Kershaw County 


Economic and Social 



University of South Carolina 
April 15, 1923 



Bulletin University of South Carolina—Issued Semi-Monthly. 
No. 120. April 15, 1923. Second Class Mail Matter. 









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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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^ DOCUMENTS division 







TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Page 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 


Preface _____ 

A Brief History of Kershaw County. 

Natural Resources and Industries..... 

Facts About the Folks...... 

Wealth and Taxation. 

Schools _.....___ 

Agriculture _....__... 

Food and Feed Production- 

Evidences of Progress-.........--—....— 

Kershaw County Problems- 


..... 5 
J 7 
..... 15 
..... 23 
..... 30 
-. 39 
__ 48 
... 62 
_... 74 
.... 82 






























































































PREFACE 


We are indebted to Prof. R. M. Kennedy, Librarian of the Uni¬ 
versity of South Carolina, for the chapter dealing with the his¬ 
tory of Kershaw County. Much of the material for this account 
was taken from data compiled for the second volume of “Historic 
Camden," which, we understand, will soon be published. 

We also wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to Prof. J. G. 
Richards, Jr., Principal Warburton of the Browning Home and 
Messrs. L. A. Wittkowsky, T. K. Trotter, B. G. Sanders and E. N. 
Niles for the help which they have, from time to time, seen fit to 
render. Other citizens of the county have also kindly assisted us. 

This bulletin was prepared in the Department of Rural Social 
Science of which Dr. Wilson Gee is the head. It has been a pleas¬ 
ure and an inspiration to do this work under his guidance. 

The expense of publishing and distributing this bulletin was 
borne by the University of South Carolina. 

To all who have aided us in this project we wish to express our 
appreciation. 


GEORGE H. WITTKOWSKY, 
J. L. MOSELEY, JR. 


University of South Carolina, 
March 9 , 1923 . 




















































. 


































































Three of Camden’s Monuments 














i. 


HISTORICAL SKETCH OF KERSHAW COUNTY 


R. M. Kennedy. 


The territory of Kershaw County was originally a part of Craven 
County, a vast region covering virtually the entire “back,” or up, 
country of South Carolina. 

In the parochial organization of the colony, it was in St Mark’s 
Parish. 

In the judicial division, by the Circuit Court Act of 1769, it was 
in Camden Precinct. 

In the military division, just prior to the Revolution, it was in 
Camden District, which included the present counties of Richland, 
Kershaw, Sumter, Fairfield and Chester. 

Its limits were established in 1798, and its name given it, in honor 
of the “founder” of Camden, Joseph Kershaw. Its boundaries 
then fixed remained intact until 1902, when a small portion on the 
eastern side was cut off to form a part of the new county of Lee. 

The first inhabitants so far as known of this region were two 
Indian tribes, the Waterees and the Catawbas. The latter were 
almost uninterruptedly the friends of the whites. King Haigler, 
who ruled about the time of the Quaker settlement, was warmly 
•attached to the leading member of that colony, Samuel Wyly. 
Haigler’s effigy, cut in metal in the year 1826 and mounted as a 
weather vane on the steeple of the old town hall in Camden, has 
faced the winds, bow in hand, like a faithful and wary sentinel 
over his erstwhile kingdom, ever since—a striking figure, dear to 
all citizens. 

The earliest white settlements in the confines of the present 
county were made along the Wateree River, just below and about 
Camden, during the years between 1733 and 1750, in what was 
called Fredericksburg township. This was one of the eleven town¬ 
ships which George II had instructed Gov. Johnson to have laid 
out along the rivers of South Carolina, each six miles square and 
containing 20,000 acres. Every male settler was given 50 acres of 
land for each member of his family. 

A site for a town was marked off in Fredericksburg, but being 
a “paper town” and its situation being in the midst of swamps, it 




8 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


naturally did not materialize. The pioneers, braving the dangers 
from swamp fevers and hostile Cherokee Indians, gradually ex¬ 
tended northward, sticking close to the water courses. 

About 1750, they were joined by an important colony of Quakers, 
who acquired the lands of the first comers, or new lands, and being 
thrifty, substantial and highly respectable people, gave permanence 
to the community. There was as yet no attempt to found a town. 

This came in 1758, when Joseph Kershaw established a store on 
Pinetree Creek. Around it grew a village, first called Pine Tree 
Hill, and, later, in 1768, when laid out symmetrically by Joseph 
Kershaw, Camden, in honor of Charles Pratt, Lord Camden, a 
friend of the colonies. 

The first court in this region was held “at Mr. Kershaw’s brew- 
house” in Camden in 1773. Prior to that time, all courts and elec¬ 
tions had been held in distant Charlestown. 

At the sitting of the Court at Camden, on Nov. 5, 1774, presided 
over by that lofty patriot, William Henry Drayton, the grand jury 
returned a veritable little Declaration of Independence, antedating 
those of Mecklenburg and Philadelphia. Similar presentments 
were later made by the Courts at Cheraw and Georgetown, where 
Drayton also presided. His charges did much to arouse the peo¬ 
ple of the colony to a sense and assertion of their rights. 

Camden was incorporated, by act of the Legislature, in 1791, the 
second town in the State to receive this privilege, Charleston hav¬ 
ing been incorporated in 1783. 

Camden was, perhaps, the most important center of military 
operations in the State during the Revlutionary War. From the 
fall of Charleston, it was the site of a strong British Post. The 
remains of an old fort and earthworks thrown up by the British, 
are still visible in the lower part of the town. 

Within a radius of thirty miles from Camden fourteen engage¬ 
ments were fought during this war, six being within the present 
boundaries of Kershaw County. 

Of these, the most notable, of course, were the battles of Cam¬ 
den, fought August 16, 1780, about eight miles above the town, and 
Hobkirk Hill, fought April 25, 1781, on its immediate outskirts. 

In the former encounter, Gates suffered a disastrous defeat at 
the hands of Lord Cornwallis. Baron DeKalb here received mortal 
wounds, dying a few days later at Camden, where he lies buried. 

In the latter, the Americans, under Greene, were again beaten 
by the British, under the brilliant young Lord Rawdon. 

The situation, however, of the British at Camden after this en¬ 
gagement was so untenable that the post was soon evacuated, the 
beginning of the overthrow of their power in South Carolina. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


9 


There were quite a number of Tories in this immediate vicinity, 
among them Daniel McGirt, the most notorious outlaw in the 
State. Many of them, on the other hand, were .prominent and 
highly respectable men, such as John Adamson, James Cary, John 
Belton, Joshua English and Henry Rugeley; indeed McGirt was 
related by blood and marriage to several of the best families. 

The majority of the inhabitants, however, were loyal to the 
American cause, fighting, as militia, many probably in the regiment 
raised by Col. Joseph Kershaw, such men as the Canteys, Boykins, 
Chesnuts, Whitakers, Thomas Charlton, Isaac DuBose, Duncan 
McRae, and others. 

The period following the Revolution was one of great content¬ 
ment and prosperity. 

Camden was one of the places visited by President Washington 
on his tour of the Southern States in 1791. 

Two years later, Citizen—Minister Genet, representing the new 
French Republic, stopped in Camden and was given a most cordial 
reception. French sentiment was then very strong and this Genet 
grossly abused. 

In the War of 1812, two companies enlisted in Kershaw County 
were sent to Charleston in anticipation of a threatened landing by 
the British. They were commanded respectively by Captains Chap¬ 
man Levy and Francis Blair, and were a part of the 2nd South 
Carolina Regiment, of which a Kershaw County man, Adam Mc- 
Willie, was Lieutenant-Colonel. 

In 1825, Camden was honored by the presence of the Marquis 
de LaFayette, who laid the cornerstone of the monument to his 
brother-in-arms, the Baron DeKalb, which stands in front of the 
Presbyterian Church. This was the occasion of a great patriotic 
celebration, in which many veterans of the Revolution took part. 

Kershaw County sent a company to the Seminole, or Florida, 
War, commanded by Capt. John Chesnut. 

In the Mexican War, the Kershaw Volunteers, (a new name for 
the historic DeKalb Guards), under command of Capt. Keith Mof- 
fatt, formed a part of the Palmetto Regiment, and did valiant work 
in Mexico. The Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment, James Polk 
Dickinson, was a Camden man. Dickinson succeeded to the com¬ 
mand of the regiment at Churubusco on the fall of Col. Butler, 
but fifteen minutes later was himself mortally wounded. He lies 
in one of the beautiful parks of Camden and over his ashes there 
rises a handsome marble shaft erected by popular subscription. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the sons of Kershaw enthusi¬ 
astically volunteered for service. 


10 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


As distributed in the several arms, the following figures are ap¬ 


proximately correct: 

Infantry^Men from Kershaw County. 800 

Cavalry—Men from Kershaw County. 159 

Reserves—(Artillery, 60; Infantry, 94)'... 154 


Total.. 1,113 


Casualties. 

Infantry: Killed, 125; wounded, 300 
Cavalry: Killed 12; wounded, 123 

Kershaw’s famous brigade, to which many of these troops were 
attached, covered itself with undying glory on many battlefields of 
the war, particularly in Virginia. It was commanded successively 
by Joseph B. Kershaw, James Conner and John D. Kennedy. 
Kershaw and Kennedy were both natives and lifelong residents of 
Camden. 

Sherman’s army passed through Kershaw County in February, 
1865, The main body was encamped at Liberty Hill. From this 
point a raiding party visited Camden on February 24th, destroying- 
many buildings, public and private, among them the old “Corn¬ 
wallis House,” built by the founder of Camden, which had been 
the headquarters of both Cornwallis and Rawdon during the war 
of the Revolution. 

Potter’s negro troops also raided Camden jon April 18, 1865, 
doing much damage. 

Kershaw County was the birthplace of six generals of the Con¬ 
federacy; Maj. General J. B. Kershaw; Brigadier Generals James 
Cantey, James Chestnut, Zack Cantey Deas, John D. Kennedy, and 
John B. Villepigue. 

In the European War, the young men of the county, (433 of 
them, by official reports not yet completed), saw service overseas, 
in the 30th, the 81st and the Rainbow Divisions. Several made 
the supreme sacrifice, and many were wounded or disabled. 

Of the total number, 78, of Congressional medals awarded for 
conspicuous gallantry, six were bestowed upon South Carolinians, 
and of these two were Kershaw County boys, Richmond Hobson 
Hilton and John Cantey Villepigue. 

It would appear, from what has been said, that patriotic service 
in practically every war in which this country has been engaged 
is Kershaw County’s chief claim to distinction in the history of the 
State. Her men have nobly responded to every call to arms. 

All the monuments that adorn the public places in Camden com- 






Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


11 


memorate the military achievements of the people. Besides the 
DeKalb and Dickinson monuments, there are the shaft to the Con¬ 
federate dead, the pergola and fountain to the six Generals of the 
Confederacy born in the county, and the hatidsome fountain ded¬ 
icated to the memory of Richard Kirkland, a private in Kershaw’s 
Brigade from the upper part of the county, who risked his life at 
Fredericksburg to carry water to the wounded enemy; he was soon 
after killed in battle. The two last named monuments were erected 
in 1911 by subscriptions raised in the public schools of Camden. 

In civil life Kershaw County has given to the Bench, Judges 
Joseph Brevard, Thomas J. Withers, Joseph B. Kershaw and Men¬ 
del L. Smith. To public service she has given Stephen D. Miller, 
Governor of South Carolina and United States Senator; James 
Chesnut, United States and Confederate States Senator; William 
McWillie, State Senator and Governor of Mississippi, and John D. 
Kennedy, Lieutenant-Governor of the State and United States 
Consul-General at Shanghai. Many others, somewhat less con¬ 
spicuous, might be named. 

A delicate, some might say super-sensitive, sense oi personal 
honor has drawn the men of Kershaw into many encounters settled 
by the code duello. Of these the two most famous and unfortun¬ 
ate were the meeting between Henry G. Nixon and Thomas Hop¬ 
kins in 1826, and the still more tragic duel, in 1880, between Col. 
William Shannon and Col. E. B. C. Cash. In the former, Nixon, 
a brilliant young member of the Camden bar, was killed; and in 
the latter Col. Shannon, a prominent lawyer and citizen, the father 
of thirteen living children, fell shot through the heart. Both Cash 
and Shannon were grizzled Confederate veterans. The horror 
created by this affair put an end to duelling in South Carolina. 

On other, social and commercial, lines a few facts may be noted. 

Prior to the Revolution, flour was manufactured in large quan¬ 
tities and of a superior grade at Kershaw’s Mills on Pinetree Creek. 
Even as late as 1801, Mills (in his “Statistics”) tells us, there were 
two or three flour mills within one mile of Camden and in that v 
year 60,000 barrels were turned out by them. This industry de¬ 
clined, about the beginning of the 19th century, on the introduc- 
tign of cotton as a staple crop. This led to a great induction of 
slave labor and a rapid growth of the plantation system. In 1800 
there were 2,530 slaves in Kershaw County; in 1820, 6,692; in 1840, 
12,281. 

Wealth multiplied, and the county, up to the time of the Civil 
War, was controlled politically by a landed aristocracy. It is 
doubtful if, outside of Charleston, a more elegant and delightful 
society could be found in the State than in and around Camden. 


12 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Liberty Hill, too, in the extreme northern part of the county, 
was a community of rich planters, who built beautiful homes and 
lived sumptuously. 

As a business center, Camden was at one time the most import¬ 
ant town in the up-country, drawing its trade from its own and 
several neighboring counties and even from the border counties 
of North Carolina. 

Before the coming of the railroad, the river was the principal 
means of hauling freight between Camden and Charleston or 
Georgetown. Lines of flat-bottom boats were poled or towed 
down the Wateree and Santee, through the Santee Canal, to “Mou- 
zon’s Store,” where the cargoes were transferred to schooners “be¬ 
cause'of the danger of crossing Bull’s Bay in bad weather.” 

The first steamboat operated between Charleston and Camden 
was put on in 1835. It drew five and one-half feet of water. 
Owing to poor dredging and frequent low water, river navigation 
was never very successful, though kept up sporadically until about 
twenty years ago. 

The mail was first carried by post riders and later by stages, 
which also transported passengers. In 1792 Camden was on one 
of the first United States Government Mail Routes, between Pet- 
ersburgh, Virginia, and Augusta, Georgia. In 1823, there was one 
mail a week between Charleston and Camden, the stages taking 
two and a half days to make the trip each way. 

The first railroad came in 1846, a branch line, connecting with 
the main line between Charleston and Columbia at Gadsden. Up¬ 
wards of 2,000 packages and 30,000 bales of cotton were shipped 
by rail within the first two months, we learn from local papers, 
“besides what was carried by steamboat.” 

Camden remained the terminus of this branch line until the 
“3C’s” was built in 1887, continuing the road to Marion, North 
Carolina. The Seaboard Air Line was completed in 1899, first put¬ 
ting Camden on a through line from the North to Florida. The 
“Wilson Short Cut,” (Northwestern Railroad), connecting Cam¬ 
den with Sumter, was built in 1900. 

Several small towns sprung up in the county as a result of this 
railroad development, the largest being Kershaw, on the “3C’s.” 

The first bridge over the Wateree was built, near Camden, in 
1827. It was destroyed in the great freshet of 1831. Several 
times in later years were the bridges at this site wrecked or car¬ 
ried away by the treacherous floods. 

Finally abandoned in the 80’s, a new bridge was built a little 
higher up the stream. This too after several near-wrecks was 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 13 


swept away in the freshet of 1908, and the present bridge, still 
further up, was completed in 1921. 

The first Court House at Camden was built in 1771. It was 
burned by the British in 1781. The second on the same site was 
built in 1788. It was replaced in 1825 by the handsome classic 
structure of brick still standing at the corner of Broad and King 
Streets, now the property of the Daughters of the American Revo¬ 
lution. It is the work of Robert Mills, the great South Carolina 
architect and engineer. 

As the town moved northward in its growth it became necessary 
to have a new Court House nearer the center, and the present 
building, on the site of “LaFayette Hall,” the fine old residence in 
which LaFayette was entertained, was completed in 1906. 

Horse racing was a sport in which Kershaw County gentry 
found much pleasure in the olden days, and, at different periods, 
there were at least three race courses in or near Camden. 

The first house of worship of which we have record was the 
Quaker Meeting House, which stood in the old Quaker Cemetery. 
Church of England and Presbyterian ministers also held services 
in Camden prior to the Revolution, using, it appears, a common 
assembly hall. The Baptists and Methodies established them¬ 
selves early in the 19th century. The oldest church building still 
standing is the Presbyterian, also attributed to Robert Mills, which 
was erected about 1820. 

There was a boarding school for young ladies in Camden shortly 
after the Revolution. In 1788, the Camden Orphan Society was 
incorporated. It was one of the so-called charitable societies 
whose chief mission was to extend the benefits of education to all, 
only a few of the really indigent, however, being given free instruc¬ 
tion. The two brick school houses built in 1820 by the Society on 
DeKalb Street were interesting landmarks, removed in 1893 when 
the new “Graded School” system was inaugurated. The Society 
continued its functions until that time. 

The Laurens Street school building was built in 1893. A few 
years later, the residence of the late Maj. W. Z. Leitner was bought 
and converted into a separate High School. 

In 1920, this property was sold and the splendid old home of the 
late Mrs. George Reynolds was acquired for the High School. 
This structure fell a victim to the flames early in 1921, and on its 
site the present fine Grammar School was built in 1922, the old 
building on Laurens Street being used now for the High School. 

Camden has had a notable line of teachers, both in private and 
public school work, the most famous, perhaps, being the stern, but 
scholarly, Leslie McCandless. 


14 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


As early as 1838, and up to the Civil War, there was a cotton fac¬ 
tory, with a model village, at Camden, where, at one time, negro 
labor was employed. It manufactured yarns and osnaburgs. The 
Hermitage Cotton Mill was built in 1892, and the Pine Tree Creek 
Manufacturing Company Mill a few years later. These under 
different names are still operating. 

The fine salubrious winter climate of Camden attracted the notice 
of northern tourists early in the 80’s, and the town has since be¬ 
come one of the best known resorts in the South, maintaining three 
large winter hotels, two golf courses, two polo fields, a race course, 
and other attractions for pleasure and health seekers. 

Kershaw, while not now reckoned one of the richest or most 
progressive counties, is far from being content with its achieve¬ 
ments of the past, but is striving equally with the- rest of the State 
to build better for the future. Of its present status, it is left in 
these pages for others to tell. 


II. 


NATURAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 


J. Louie Moseley. 


Geography 

Kershaw County is situated in the north central part of the State 
and has an area of 673 square miles, or 430,720 acres, ranking 20th 
in size among the counties of South Carolina. It is bounded on 
the north by Lancaster County; on the east, by Chesterfield Coun¬ 
ty; on the south, by Sumter, Richland, ancl|Lee counties; and on 
the west by Fairfield County and the Catavs^ba-Wateree River. 

The surface of the county varies from theWore hilly section in 
the vicinity of Kershaw to the flat lands beMw Camden, notably 
around Boykin and Dundee, extending to the Sumter County line. 

The most elevated portion of the county is at Kershaw, which is 
500 feet above sea level. The altitude at Camden is 222 feet. The 
lowest part of the county is probably about 200 feet above sea level. 

The valley of the Wateree River is the most conspicuous physi¬ 
ographic feature of the county. Thruout the northern part of its 
course in the county to a point a short distance above Camden, the 
valley is narrow, with comparatively steep valley walls. But south 
of this point, where .the river passes out of the Piedmont Plateau, 
it flows in a broad valley, including extensive flood-plain and ter¬ 
race areas and bordered by low, gently sloping hills. Lynches 
River, flowing along the eastern boundary of the county, has not 
cut so deep or wide a valley as the Wateree River. 

The drainage of the county is effected by three systems—the 
Wateree River, Lynches River, and Black River. 

Soils 

Kershaw County lies upon the fall line between the Piedmont 
Plateau and the Coastal Plain. It is in a region of varied geologi¬ 
cal formations, and soil developments. The soils fall into three 
main groups or provinces: (1) the Piedmont Plateau province, 
where the soils are residual, divided into two groups, (a) crystal¬ 
line region, (b) slate belt, (2) Coastal Plain region, which is divided 
into three groups, (a) old Coastal Plain or Sand Hill region, (b) 
ancient river terrace or level Coastal Plain, corresponding to the 




16 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Upper Pine Belt, (c) the Red Hill region; (3) the River Terrace 
and Flood Plain province, embracing (a) old alluvial or terrace 
soils, (b) first-bottom recent alluvial, representing the present flood 
plain of the streams. 

In Kershaw County there are 18 distinct soil types, separated 
mainly on the basis of texture and color. Following is the name 
and relative extent of each type: Norfolk Sand, 34 per cent; Cecil 
gravelly sand loam, 7.9 per cent; Norfolk sandy loam, 7.6 per cent; 
Norfolk coarse sand; Hoffman sandy loam, 5.1 per cent; George- 
ville silty clay loam, 4.4 per cent; Georgeville silt loam, 3.9 per 
cent; Ruston sandy loam, 3.7 per cent; Cecil gravelly clay loam, 
3.7 per cent; Johnson loam, 2.8 per cent; Congaree silt loam, 2.6 
per cent; Congaree silty clay loam, 2.6 per cent; Wehatchkee silty, 
2.0 per cent; Hoffman coarse sandy loam, 1.6 per cent; Marlboro 
sandy loam, 1.5 per cent; Bradley sandy loam, 1.4 per cent; and 
Appling sandy loam, 1.2 per cent. 

The two most generally found soils, the Norfolk sand and sand¬ 
hill phase, cover about 35 per cent of the entire area of the county. 
The Norfolk sand consists of a gray to brownish-gray loose sand, 
about 5 or 6 inches in depth, which passes into a pale-yellow medi¬ 
um coarse loose sand, usually 4 to 10 feet long, resting upon a 
yellow sandy clay, in many places mottled with red. 

The Sandhill phase of the Norfolk sand is essentially the same 
as the Norfolk sand in point of texture, color, and structure, but 
differs in having a more rolling topography and a deeper sand sub¬ 
stratum. It covers a large section in the middle northeast of the 
county. 

The first bottom or overflow land is widely developed along the 
Wateree River below Camden and upon the Lynches River, and is 
fairly well developed along the smaller streams in proportion to 
size. These soils have been deposited during floods and are com¬ 
posed of materials washed from the drainage basins of the various 
streams. 

The county soils as a whole are adapted to the growing of all 
crops, generally found in this region. Cotton, corn, wheat, oats and 
other grains are found with cotton as the predominating crop. A 
bale of cotton can be made per acre by the use of 700 pounds of 
fertilizer, and 35 bushels of corn with 400 pounds. 

The data regarding the soils of Kershaw County are taken from 
the soil survey of the county published in 1922 by the Bureau of 
Soils, United States Department of Agriculture. That publication 
contains an accurate description of all the soil types in the county, 
as well as a complete soil map showing the distribution of these 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 17 


types over the various sections of the county. The reader is re¬ 
ferred to that bulletin for a more detailed knowledge of the soils 
of the county. 

Climate 

The sand hills, a strip of territory which divides the State into 
halves is almost parallel to the Coast line. Camden, situated on 
this range of hills, is a very popular winter resort, ranking with 
others similarly located, as Aiken in South Carolina and Pinehurst 
in North Carolina. Every winter northern tourists flock to our 
county seat to enjoy its mild winters and beautiful scenery. 

Taken over a period of 28 years, the Weather Bureau gives 245 
days as the average number of growing days per year. Reports 
over the same period give November 11th as the average and Octo¬ 
ber 11 as the earliest date of killing frost, with the latest average 
date of killing frost on March 11, and the latest killing frost on 
April 15. 

The annual snowfall over a period of 36 years averages 3 inches 
per year. 

The above data show clearly the shortness and mildness of our 
winters. Approximately two-thirds of the year can be devoted to 
the growing of crops, which is one of the reasons why Kershaw 
County is so predominantly agricultural. 

Following is a table showing the precipitation and temperature 
changes at Camden, affording a good index for the whole county. 


18 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Normal Monthly Seasonal and Annual Temperature and Precipita¬ 
tion at Camden, 


(Based on Report of U. S. Weather Bureau Station in Camden, 

S. C.) ‘ 


Temperature Precipitation 



Mean 

Fahr. 

Absolute 

Maximum 

Fahr. 

Absolute 

Minimum Mean 

Fahr. Inches 

Total amt for 
Driest year 
Inches 

Total amt. for 
Wettest year 
Inches 

December 

48.1 

82 

9 

3.40 

3.54 

2.89 

January 

46.1 

78 

9 

3.38 

3.13 

4.86 

February 

47.8 

80 

4 

3.97 

2.27 

4.78 

Winter 

47.3 



10.75 

8.94 

12.53 

March 

54.3 

88 

19 

3:70 

1.37 

4.83 

April 

62.5 

95 

24 

3.08 

1.91 

2.19 

May 

69.5 

103 

35 

3.21 

2.14 

1.72 

Spring 

62.1 



9.99 

5.42 

8.74 

June 

77.7 

104 

51 

4.48 

1.92 

3.92 

July 

80.0 

105 

55 

5.23 

4.13 

15.90 

August 

78.9 

102 

55 

5.46 

2.23 

14.42 

Summer 

78.9 



15.17 

8,28 

24.24 

Sept. 

73.8 

103 

36 

3.66 

0.86 

6.00 

October 

62.6 

98 

24 

2.62 

7.23 

4.43 

November 

52.0 

85 

19 

2.35 

0.55 

1.41 

Autumn 

62.8 



8.63 

8.64 

11.84 

Year 

62.8 

105 

4 

44.54 

31.28 

57.35 


Timber 

Kershaw County contains approximately 290,000 acres of wood¬ 
land, according to the 1920 Census report. Not a large per cent of 
this area grows useful lumber products. Much of it, especially in 
poor sandy sections, is covered with small oaks and pines, which 
are of little value. In the county as a whole, the lumber industry 
is of very little importance. The 1920 Census gives an annual value 
of lumber and timber products of $50,000, with 157 employees. 

It is interesting to note the conditions of forests all over the 
State. According to the report of the United States Forest Ser- 





















Kershaw County : Economic and Social 19 


vice in 1920, in response to Senate Resolution 311, the area of pine- 
land in South Carolina is about 8,000,000 acres of which 600,000 
acres is old-growth timber, 2,500,000 acres second-growth saw- 
timber, 3,000,000 acres below merchantable size, and 1,900,000 
acres only poorly or not restocking. That leaves between 3*4 and 
4 million acres of hardwoods and of cypress and cedar swamp— 
probably mostly hardwoods. 

It has been estimated that about 8,000,000 acres of land are un¬ 
suitable for agriculture, because of topography or soil conditions, 
and should always be in timber. This area if devoted to growing 
timber could produce annually something like 800,000,000 board 
feet, or a little less than our estimated present annual cut. 

In 1920 the United States Forest Service recorded 13,889,000,000 
feet as the stand of merchantable pine timber in South Carolina. 
The figure given for 1908 was approximately 45,000,000,000. The 
decrease is readily seen to be marked. The annual growth is esti¬ 
mated to be 250,000,000 feet. Over the country as a whole our con¬ 
sumption of timber is four times as great as our annual growth. 
At this rate, and it represents a conservative estimate, we are sus¬ 
taining in this State a deficit of three-quarters of a million feet an¬ 
nually. This rate of depletion of our forests will not allow many 
years to pass before we have used up our forests. 

Considering that the forests of South Carolina occupy more than 
sixty per cent of the land in the State, and probably always will 
occupy more than forty per cent, we should regard our forests as 
one of our greatest assets, and they should be so handled as to pro¬ 
duce continuous crops of saw timber and other wood products. It 
is practicable to do this, providing the timberland owners and the 
people of the State can be brought to realize that timber is a crop 
just as much as cotton, tobacco, or peaches. Just as agricultural 
research has been responsible for the recent wonderful progress 
in farm crop production, so scientific research in methods of pro¬ 
tecting, harvesting, and utilizing the timber crop can make possible 
more intensive and more profitable utilization of our forest lands 
for producing timber. 

Minerals 

Kershaw County has but few minerals worthy of mention. Gold, 
granite, and clay, have been found and mined at different times. 
Granite and gold deposits have been practically exhausted, but in 
the vicinity of Camden, large and valuable beds of brick clay are 
still found, used in the manufacture of brick, 


20 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Industries 

To the uninformed the industrial development of Kershaw Coun¬ 
ty would seem to be of little note. However, a comparison of the 
figures of agriculture and manufacturing interests are significant 
in this regard. 

According to the last census (1920), the total value of all farm 
property was $13,750,006 while our manufacturing industries were 
worth $4,820,252, or about one-third. Our farm products, in the 
same year, were worth $8,253,251, and the output of our industrial 
concerns was valued at $2,534,784. 

During the last few years there has been a steady increase in 
manufacturing industries in Kershaw County. We hope this will 
continue until we have a better balance between our farm and 
manufacturing products. 

Kershaw County Papers 

There are four papers in Kershaw County—The Camden Chron¬ 
icle, The Wateree Messenger, The Kershaw Era and The Bethune 
Observer. The Chronicle and The Messenger are published at 
Camden. The Era is published at Kershaw and The Observer at 
Bethune. These papers carry a considerable amount of advertis¬ 
ing. Their equipment is good and they do an extensive amount 
of job work. These papers have been potent forces in the devel¬ 
opment of their respective communities and of the entire county. 
The editors and publishers of these publications are due the grat¬ 
itude of the county for their efforts in behalf of progress. 

The Wateree Mill 

The Wateree Cotton Mill of Camden, the largest of our two 
cotton mills, is a branch of the Lewis Manufacturing Company of 
Walpole Massachusetts. It has a capital stock of $400,000 and 
employs 225 persons, paying them approximately $175,000 annually 
in wages. The Wateree Mill is engaged solely in the manu¬ 
facture of medical guaze. The mill has 18,816 spindles and 420 
looms. 

The Hermitage Mill. 

The Hermitage Cotton Mill is also located in Camden. It was 
the Camden Cotton Mill until April 1905, when it was purchased 
by prominent men of Camden. The name was changed to the 
Hermitage Cotton Mill. The present officers are R. B. Pitts, Pres¬ 
ident and Treasurer; K. G. Carrison, and C. H. Yates, vice pres¬ 
idents; and N. C. Arnett, Secretary, all of whom are residents of 
Kershaw County. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 21 


Thirty-three hundred bales of cotton are consumed per annum 
in the manufacture of print cloths, by 16,640 spindles and 390 looms. 

The capital invested is given as $398,491.72. The mill operates 
310 days per year, and employs 225 persons, who receive $171,600 
annually in wages. The yearly product is worth $975,600. 

The Camden Milling Company 

The Camden Milling Company is probably the largest grist mill 
in the county. This concern is owned and operated by R. L. 
Moseley. It grinds annually 30,000 bushels of corn. 

Organized in 1914 as a toll mill, it was reorganized in 1921, and 
grinds meal and hominy for all of the local stores and surrounding 
country. The mill supplies the demand for good meal, which is 
difficult to secure on the part of the town people. 

The firm has room for development and a large growth, which 
should come with proper methods of sale. The annual product is 
estimated to be worth $25,000. 

Cotton Seed Oil Company 

This branch of the Southern Cotton Oil Company was organized 
and built by the South Atlantic Cotton Oil Company in 1902. It 
is in Camden and has a capital of $90,000. 

The products from the seed are crude oil, meal, hulls, and linters. 
The mill also gins an average of 2,500 bales of cotton per year. 

The value of the annual product is $332,110; employees number 
57, and the average payroll is $38,025. 

The Camden Veneer Company 

The Camden Veneer Company is engaged in the manufacture of 
veneer and poplar crossbanding and center stock material for mak¬ 
ing seats, chairs and similar articles. This concern is a branch of 
the O. L. Williams Company of Sumter, South Carolina. 

The capital stock and resources are estimated at $94,519. Ap¬ 
proximately 50 laborers are employed at all times. The yearly 
payroll is $26,000. The annual output is valued at $100,000. Prac¬ 
tically all of the material consumed is bought in South Carolina, 
A small amount is secured in Kershaw County, 


22 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 

Classified Industries in Kershaw County. 


(Based on the 1921 Report of the State Commissioner of Agricult¬ 
ure, Commerce and Industries.) 



Capital. 

Value of 

annual product. 

Estimated wages. 

Number of 

wage earners. 

Number of days 

plants operated, j 

Bakery products .. 

$ 8,500 

$ 38,000 

$ 3,000 

3 

316 

Boxes, baskets, etc.... 

18,000 

18,500 

5,921 

20 

116 

Confectionery . 

1,500 

720 

2,800 

5 

48 

Electricity . 

4,471,140 

722,816 

19,544 

18 

365 

Fertilizer . 

25,000 

24,130 


38 

38 

Flour and grist .. 

1,000 

200 

56 

2 

50 

Lumber and timber 

75,000 

50,000 

5,009 

’ 4 

200 

products. 

34,900 

31,200 

7,530 

25 

130 

Minerals and soda 

104,000 

127,776 

5,449 

12 

233 

Printing & publishing 

9,500 

9,731 

2,015 

4 

310 

Textiles .'.| 

651,894 

945,800 

225,517 

433 

271 

Total.| 

1 

$5,370,434 

$1,968,873 

$276,832 

564 

2077 




















III. 


\ f 


FACTS ABOUT THE FOLKS 


George H. Wittkowsky. 


It is the purpose of this chapter to discuss various existing con¬ 
ditions regarding the people themselves in Kershaw County. This 
section of our study is intended to be primarily a statement of 
facts; and altho in some cases we attempt an interpretation of these 
data, nevertheless a full discussion of Kershaw County problems is 
reserved for the last chapter. 

Population 

In a social study the starting point should be a consideration of 
population in its several aspects. Kershaw ranks twenty-fifth 
among the counties in point of total population, with 29,398 per¬ 
sons. In 1910 the population was 27,094. Thus we see that in 
the last ten years the population has increased 2,304 or 8.5 per 
cent. The increase for the State during the same period was 11.1 
per cent; whereas, the increase for the nation was 14.9 per cent. 

Kershaw County has a population density of 43.7 persons to the 
square mile. When we take into consideration the fact that the 
average for the State is 55.2 persons to the square mile, we realize 
that our county is, relatively speaking, sparsely populated. 

Rural and Urban Population 

Closely connected with the foregoing is the matter of rural and 
urban distribution of our population. According to the last census 
only 3,930 of our people are urban, whereas 25,468 go to make up 
our rural population. Thus we see that 86.6 per cent of our pop¬ 
ulation is rural. By rural population is meant that portion of a 
people residing in places of less than 2,500 inhabitants. 

In the last ten years our urban population has increased 10.1 per 
cent, whereas the rural population increased 8.3 per cent. 

In the rural districts the density of population is 37.8 per square 
mile. The density for the entire county is 43.7 inhabitants for the 
area of a mile. 

The foregoing facts are significant. In areas where the people 
are scattered is is essential that determined means be taken to bring 




24 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


them into as close social contact as is possible. This calls for cen¬ 
tralized schools, county libraries, better highways and improve¬ 
ments in various other social agencies. These topics will be 
touched on more fully later. 

Negro Majority 

In Kershaw County, as is the case for the entire State, there are 
more negroes than whites. The proportion is 42 whites to 58 
negroes. For the entire State the percentage of negro population 
is 51.4. Thus we see that in Kershaw County the negro majority 
is greater than the average for the State. 

From 1910 until 1920, the whites increased 15.8 per cent. Dur¬ 
ing this same period the number of negroes was augmented only 
3.7 per cent. Statistics covering this period show that the relative 
percentage negro decrease in Kershaw was 2.7. Hence we see that 
the negroes during the years 1910 to 1920 did not keep pace with 
the whites in population increase. It is probable that the chief 
reason for this is the migration of the colored people to the North¬ 
ern cities. 

The relatively large negro majority in Kershaw County is espec¬ 
ially surprising when we contrast our county with Chesterfield in 
this particular. These two counties have many points in common 
of an economic and social nature. Whereas only 39.5 per cent of 
the population of Chesterfield is negro, we find that in Kershaw 
County, as has been shown above, the colored folk constitute 58 
per cent of the populace. However, from 1910 to 1920 the negro 
population of Chesterfield County increased 19.6 per cent against 
3.7 per cent for Kershaw. The above facts would seem to indicate 
that the negro majority in Kershaw County is of long standing. 
The reason for this condition is due, in all probability, to the fact 
that prior to the war between the States, Kershaw was a big slave¬ 
owning county. It seems to the writer that this conclusion is sup¬ 
ported by the table given below: 


Camden’s New Grammar School Building 














Kershaw County : Economic and Social 25 


White and Colored Population in Kershaw County: 1850 to 1920. 


Year 

White 

Colored 

Percentage 

of Negroes 

1850_ 

.... 4,681.... 

_ 9,792. 

_67.6 

1860. 

_ 5,048__ 

8,0.38 

.61.4 

1870... 

.. 3,809. 

..... 7,945... 

_ „..67.5 

1880. 

. 7,892. 

1 3,646 

_63.35 

1890. 

.. 8,550_.... 

13,810 

.61.31 

1900.... 

_10,002. 

_14,693_ 

_59.45 

1910. 

_10,648. 

_16,444. 

_60.69 

1920.„. 

_12,333... 

.17,065. 

.„58. 






The large negro majority is a fact which should be given care¬ 
ful consideration by the thinking people of the county. This is 
a big question all over the State. The negro race is inferior to the 
white in intelligence and culture and as long as they remain in 
the majority our development will be retarded. This statement 
is made with no intention of stirring up race hatred. The negroes 
of Kershaw are largely good citizens, and the good feeling which 
exists between the two races reflects credit on both. A reduction 
of the negro majority would, we believe, work for the mutual ben¬ 
efit of both races. As a means by which this end might be effected 
we suggest that efforts be made to import whites from other 
States and from the more desirable sections of Europe. 

Illiteracy 

There is no more vital problem facing the people of South Caro¬ 
lina than that of illiteracy. Ignorance is a source of grave danger 
in a democracy. We cannot expect to find good government 
where a large percentage of the people have not had the advan¬ 
tages which education offers. 

In this matter of illiteracy our State has, next to Louisiana, the 
worst record of the states in the country. In 1920 there were 229,- 
667 illiterates within the borders of the Palmetto State. This num¬ 
ber comprised 18.1 per cent of our population. However, it is re¬ 
assuring to note that illiteracy in South Carolina was reduced from 
25.7 per cent in 1910 to 18.1 per cent in 1920. 































26 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Kershaw County has a somewhat more favorable record than 
most of the counties. Out of 20,358 inhabitants 10 years of age or 
over, 3,259 or 16 per cent are illiterate. We are eighth from the 
top in this matter. However, in the matter of native white illit¬ 
eracy, we do not rank as favorably. Our percentage is 6.2 as 
against 6.5 for the State, giving us twenty-fifth place among the 
counties. In Kershaw County there are 539 white people over the 
age of 10 years who can neither read nor write. 

in our county there are 1,273 male illiterates over the age of 21 
years of whom 253 are white. The number of female illiterates 
over this age is 1,407, including 216 white women. The total per¬ 
centage for the men is 20.5; while that for the women is 22.3. 

We note with satisfaction that illiteracy in Kershaw County was 
reduced from 32.6 per cent in 1910 to 16 per cent in 1920. High 
praise is due to those who by untiring service have helped carry 
the torch of learning to the illiterates of Kershaw County. 

But these figures as to the reduction of illiteracy are liable to be 
somewhat misleading. By the term illiterate is meant a person 
over the age of 10 years who is unable to write his name in any 
language. Thus we see that if the figures were given for near il¬ 
literacy instead of for sheer illiteracy they would be far more un¬ 
favorable. A man may not be classed as illiterate and yet be a 
person of little or no education. We point out this fact with no 
intention of belittling the efforts of those engaged in the fight 
against illiteracy. A man who has learned to write his name has 
surely made a start in the right direction. At the same time it 
would not do for us to hide our faces from the stark facts as does 
the proverbial ostrich. It would not be wise for us to be blinded 
by the above figures as to illiteracy reduction, and to overlook the 
“near-ignorance” by which we are surrounded. 

After all the only adequate cure for illiteracy is compulsory edu¬ 
cation. The adult schools can do and are doing much to reduce 
illiteracy among adults. But adult schools cannot prevent each 
generation from bringing forth a fresh crop of adult illiterates. 

The only satisfactory way is to check the disease at the start. 
The place to start the good work of education is among the young. 
It is easier to develop the plastic mind of the child than to attempt 
to change the set mind of an adult. Hence compulsory education 
is the crying need of our country and its only safe bulwark against 
ignorance and attendant evils. 

Vital Statistics 

The number of births per 1000 of population in Kershaw County 
for the year 1919 was 24.6. The number of deaths was 11.1. The 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


average birth rate for the State is 27.1 per 1000 of population. The 
average death rate is 13.66. Thus we see that for Kershaw Coun¬ 
ty the births exceeded the deaths per 1000 inhabitants by 13.5. 
In point of birth rate Kershaw County ranks 35th. It ranks 37th 
in death rate. 

Kershaw County citizens have wisely taken steps to improve 
health conditions thruout the county. An account of these activi¬ 
ties is given in a succeeding chapter of this bulletin. 

Church; Attendance 

The figures given in this section have been taken from the special 
report on “Religious Bodies,” published by the Bureau of the Cen¬ 
sus for the year 1916. In the percentage of population over the 
age of twenty years that are church members Kershaw County 
ranks sixteenth. * In our county 74 per cent of the people are affil¬ 
iated with some church. The average for the State is also 74 per 
cent. 

There are in Kershaw County 14,138 church members of which 
number 25,171 are white and 8,967 are colored. Of the white 
church members 3,121 are Baptists, 1,319 are Methodist, 467 are 
Presbyterians, 214 are Episcopalians and 50 belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

The negroes are distributed as follows: 5,121 Baptists, 3,731 
Methodists and 115 Presbyterians. The figures as to the number 
of members of other denominations are not available. 

It will be noted from the above that there are fifteen counties 
ranking higher than Kershaw in the matter of church membership. 
This is a condition which the citizens of Kershaw County should 
take into consideration and strive to change for the better. 

Law and Order 

The record of Kershaw County as to law and order is not an 
enviable one. There are but five counties in the State having a 
larger number of homicides per 100,000 of population. This is a 
matter of grave concern. The formation of the Law and Order 
Leagues thruout the county indicate that the people are alive to 
the danger of the situation. 

However, organizations of this nature are latent sources of dan¬ 
ger. Care should be taken that these leagues limit themselves 
strictly to the business of creating a law-abiding spirit. No at¬ 
tempt should be made by the leagues to take upon themselves the 
task of enforcing the law. 


28 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Facts and Figures about Kershaw County People 

(Compiled principally from the United States Census of 1920.) 

20th—In size in South Carolina, square miles_ 673 

Berkeley County is the largest in the State with 1,238 
square miles; Cherokee is the smallest with 373 
square miles. The total land area of the State is 
30,495 square miles. 

25th—In population, 1920_ 29,398 

Charleston County is the largest in the State in point 
of population with 108,450 people. Jasper is the 
smallest with 9,868. The total population for the 


State is 1,683,724. 

34th—In density of rural population per square mile- 37.8 

Spartanburg ranks first with 93.6 inhabitants; Jas¬ 
per is at the bottom of the list with 16.6 inhabitants. 

24th—In per cent negro population_ 58 


Beaufort County has the largest per cent, 78.5. Pick¬ 
ens County, with only 17.4 per cent, heads the list. 

The increase in whites from 1910-20 was 15.8 per 
cent. The negro increase for the same period of time 
was 3.7 per cent. 

32nd—In density of total population per square mile_ 43.7 

Spartanburg County ranks first with 123.2 per square 
mile. Jasper County ranks last with 16.6. The av¬ 
erage for the State is 55.2. 

24th—In per cent negro decrease in ratio of the total pop¬ 
ulation, 1910-20._ 2.7 

Greenwood County ranks first with 9.4 per cent. Of 
the four counties which showed an increase, Will¬ 
iamsburg ranks highest with 4.3 per cent. 

8th—In percentage of total illiterates 10 years of age and 

over_ 16 

Pickens County has the most favorable record with 
10.7 per cent. Berkeley with 38.4 per cent, has the 
largest number of illiterates. The average for the 
State is 18.1 per cent. 

25th—In percentage of native white illiterates_ 6.2 

Charleston County has the most favorable record 
with only 1.5. Chesterfield County, with 13.3 per 
cent, is at the bottom of the list. The average for 
the State is 6.5 per cent. The average for the U. S. 
is 2 per cent. 


















Kershaw County : Economic and Social 29 

29th—In native white illiterate males 21 years of age and 


Charleston County ranks first with 1.7 per cent. 
Chesterfield comes last with 17.3 per cent. The av¬ 
erage for the State is 8.5. 

25th—In native white illiterate females 21 years of age and 

over _ 7.9 

Calhoun County heads the list with 1.7 per cent. 
Chesterfield comes last with 18 per cent. The aver¬ 
age for the State is 8.1 per cent. 


35th—In number of births per 1000 of population for 1919 24.6 

Horry County ranks first with 39.1 per thousand; 
Colleton is last with 18.2 per thousand. The average 
for the State is 27.1 per thousand. 

^3rd—In number of deaths per 1000 population__ 11.1 


Richland County ranks first with 26.1 per thousand; 
Colleton, with 7.4 per thousand, is at the foot of the 
list. The State’s average was 13.66. 

16th—In percentage of population 10 years and over that 

are church members _ 74 

Barnwell ranks first; while Colleton County has the 
smallest percentage of church members. The aver¬ 
age for the State is 74 per cent. 

34th—In number of homicides per 100,000 population in the 

year 1921 _ 17 

Dorchester County had the most favorable record, 
there having been no homicides in the county. Bam¬ 
berg, with 62 homicides per 100,000, had the worst 
record. The total number of homicides for the State 
was 247. There were 5 in Kershaw County. 










IV. 


WEALTH AND TAXATION 


George H. Wittkowsky. 


Total Wealth 

It is the purpose of this section to compare the value of prop¬ 
erty in Kershaw County for the year 1921 with that for 1911. By 
this means we shall be able to see how much the wealth of the 
county has increased within this period of ten years. The method 
of procedure of the State Tax Commission requires that the prop¬ 
erty of the State be returned at 42 per cent of its value. How¬ 
ever the figures compiled by the U. S. Bureau of Census, in their 
“Financial Statistics of States,” show that the property is returned 
at not more than 25 per cent of its value. For that reason we 
have multiplied the tax returns by 4 in order to obtain the figures 
given below. 

The amount of personal property returned for 1911 was $1,381,- 
756. The amount of real property was $2,702,200. The total was 
$4,083,956. Multiplying by 4 we find that the personal property in 
the county in 1911 amounted to $5,527,024. The real property ag¬ 
gregated $10,808,800. The total was $16,435,824. The per capita 
wealth for 1911 was approximately $606. 

In 1921 the amount of personal property returned was $3,531,- 
731. The real property returned was worth $3,633,670. Hence 
the actual value of the personal property was $14,126,924. The 
value of both real and personal property was $28,661,604. The 
per capita wealth for 1921 was approximately $975. 

Thus it will be seen that in this period of ten years, from 1911 
until 1921, the per capita wealth of Kershaw County increased 
$369. It will be noticed that the figures here and those at the end 
of the chapter on per capita wealth are at variance. The reason 
for the difference is that the figures in the back of the chapter 
are based on the assumption that property in the county is re¬ 
turned at 42 per cent of its actual value, whereas the figures above 
are based on a 25 per cent return. As stated above our authority 
for using 25 per cent as a basis for calculations is the report of 
the U. S. Bureau of Census known as, “Financial Statistics of 
States.” 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 31 


Farm Tenancy 

Farm tenancy is one of the worst, if not the worst, economic and 
social evils in the County of Kershaw as well as in the entire 
State. Montesquieu, a great French philosopher and political 
economist, once said that the wealth of a country depends not so 
much on the fertility of the land as on the freedom of its inhabi¬ 
tants. There is a wealth of wisdom in this idea of the famous 
thinker. Where the soil is tilled by the farmer and especially in 
the case of the cash and standing renters, we find indolence, in¬ 
efficiency, and poor crops. Human nature is such that man is 
unwilling to expend the same thought and work on another man’s 
land as he would on his own. No effort is made to improve the 
soil and the conditions which make for better crops. What cares 
the tenant farmer whether the land is improved or allowed to de¬ 
teriorate? Perhaps the next season he will be working another 
man’s land. But ownership of land gives a different attitude. It 
gives that spirit of independence which makes for thrift and scien¬ 
tific managing. 

In Kershaw County 67.1 per cent of the farms are worked by 
tenants. This is worse than the average for jthe State which is 
64.5 per cent. The term tenant includes both renters and share¬ 
croppers. 

Thus it may be seen that farm tenancy is a very serious prob¬ 
lem for our people to face. We cannot expect to ascend very high 
on the ladder of prosperity until some means are devised of reduc¬ 
ing the percentage of farm tenancy in the county. 

Farm Mortgages 

Closely allied with the problem of tenancy is that of mortgaged 
farms. There are 3,663 farms in Kershaw County. Of these 7.1 
per cent, or 239 are mortgaged. Of the white farms 6.8 per cent 
are mortgaged. In the percentage of all farms mortgaged there 
are 19 counties with better records, whereas in the percentage of 
white mortgaged farms there are 21 counties which make a better 
showing. 19.3 per cent of the negro farms are encumbered with 
mortgages. The average for this State in this particular is 23.3 
• per cent. 

It is impossible to say whether these figures concerning mort¬ 
gages indicate a healthy condition or not. All mortgages are not 
unfavorable indications. If the mortgages are being used as 
means of improvement of a genuine and lasting character then 
they are surely not bad signs. But if property is being mortgaged 




32 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 

to buy luxuries, then the figures here given signify an unwhole¬ 
some state of affairs. There is no way by which we may de¬ 
termine what use is being made of the loans being secured on 
mortgaged property in our county. 

Automobiles 

In 1921 there were 1,319 automobiles in Kershaw County. This 
meant approximately one car to every 22 inhabitants. In 1920 
there were 1,465 cars in the county. Thus we see the number de¬ 
creased by 146 in twelve months. It has been estimated that the 
average number of gallons of gasoline used by each car in South 
Carolina in 1921 was approximately 406. 

Multiplying this figure by the number of cars in the county in 
1921, we find that approximately 535,171 gallons of gasoline were 
consumed in the county in the year 1921. Taking 25 cents per 
gallon as the average price of gasoline for that year, we find that 
$133,792.77 was spent for this item in Kershaw County, during the 
year 192L It has been estimated that 13 miles is the average 
amount gotten out of a gallon of gasoline. Figuring on this basis, 
it may be seen that the approximate distance covered by the cars 
of Kershaw County in 1921 was 6,957,224 miles. It has also 
been estimated that the average cost of operating a car is 10 cents 
per mile. Thus we see that the approximate operating expenses 
for this period of twelve months was $695,722.38. This is consid¬ 
erably more than the total value of all school property in the 
county. The value of the school property is $432,750. Thus we 
see that the value of all the school property in the county is only 
62.2 per cent of the annual operating expenses for cars. This 
might be made the thesis of a powerful sermon on “Extravagance 
versus Education,” but we are willing to let the facts speak for 
themselves. 

Roads 

The roads in Kershaw County are, generally speaking, in good 
condition. We believe this is due largely to the fact that our 
roads are under the care of a trained engineer. We say this with 
no intention of reflecting on the records of former county com¬ 
missioners. Most of them did their best. But the construction 
and maintenance of roads demands the services of a trained mind. 
It is no less absurd to expect a man without the training of an en¬ 
gineer to look after roads successfully than it would be to expect 
one unlearned in the law to give sound legal advice; or to depend 
for medical aid upon one who is ignorant of anatomy and the other 
branches of medical science. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


33 


At the time of writing there are 70 miles of improved state roads 
in Kershaw County and 200 miles of improved county roads. In 
1921 there were constructed in Kershaw County 50 miles of state 
roads and 150 miles of county roads. 

The road tax for our county is 7 mills. This yields about $45,- 
000 annually. In addition to this amount the gasoline tax, the 
capitation tax and the profits from the Wateree River Bridge tolls 
are used on the roads. 

Good roads are a matter of much importance to our county as 
they are to any other part of the country. It has been esti¬ 
mated by the United States Department of Agriculture that the 
average cost of hauling a bale of cotton to market is eighty cents. 
Each bale of cotton yields about half a ton of seed. This seed 
has to be hauled from the gin to the shipping point. The esti¬ 
mated average cost of hauling seed is $3.00 per ton. The average 
annual yield of cotton for the six years preceding 1921 was 29,933 
bales. Using the above figures as a basis for calculation we see 
that the annual cost of marketing cotton during this period was 
approximately $61,945.90. It has also been estimated that im¬ 
proved roads effect a forty per cent reduction in the cost of trans¬ 
portation. Thus it may be seen at a glance what a great economy 
good roads really are. Not only are good roads economic; 
they are also great social agencies. They bring the people 
together, make schools and churches more accessible and make 
it possible for the rural population to enjoy some of the advan¬ 
tages of town and city life. 


Taxation 

The most pressing problem which confronts the people of our 
State today is taxation. Our state and county governments are 
being run on money collected under a system of taxation which is 
unscientific, inefficient, and inequitable. 

Taxation is one of the most vital problems in the life of any peo¬ 
ple. The history of our country illustrates this very forcibly. In 
the colonial days the question of taxation was a thorn in the side 
of the people who inhabited the thirteen colonies. The history 
of France before the great Revolution of 1789 is likewise an exam¬ 
ple of the pernicious results of an unjust system of taxation. 

Our present system of taxation has been determined largely by 
the constitution of 1895. The regulations imposed by this con¬ 
stitution are impracticable and serve as a barrier to an adequate 
solution of the tax problem in our State. For example the con¬ 
stitution allows only an ad valorem tax on business houses. The 


34 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


only fair way to tax a business house is on its income. But this 
cannot be done until the constitution is amended. The constitu¬ 
tion requires that the tax on real and personal property must be 
the same. As a result of this provision it is impossible to get the 
intangible property on the tax books. Experts on taxation agree 
that intangible property and other property should not be taxed 
at the same rate. To do so makes it impossible for the owner of 
intangible property to get an adequate return on his property. 
It would be far better to tax intangible property at a rate lower 
than that on other property than it is to follow the system now in 
vogue in South Carolina, the resylt of which is to allow the in¬ 
tangible property to escape taxation entirely. 

And so it can be seen that one of the most necessary steps to 
be taken in improving our system of taxation is the amendment 
of the Constitution. The Joint Special Committee on Taxation 
appointed in 1920 by the legislature, had the following to say on 
this phase of the problem: “There can be no sound, sane, thor¬ 
ough-going reform of the taxing system of South Carolina until 
the constitutional restrictions upon the power of the General As¬ 
sembly in relation to the general property^ tax are removed. Any 
improvement in the method of assessment or in administrative 
machinery is mere tinkering. The institution of other methods 
of raising revenue might result in some temporary relief from the 
present strain upon the timbers of a tottering structure. All such 
devices are but props to keep the house from falling away. The 
only sensible course is to rebuild the foundation. No sound and 
lasting foundation for a just, equitable, and workable system of 
taxation can be prepared until the people of the State free them¬ 
selves from the shackles of the present constituion and confer upon 
their representatives in the General Assembly the power to con¬ 
struct such a system.” 

Another prime fault in the present system is undervaluation. 
The constitution clearly provides that all property must be re¬ 
turned at 100 per cent value. However, this provision has been 
and is today flagrantly violated. In 1915 the State Tax Commis¬ 
sion was forced to take cognizance of this fact and set up 42 per 
cent as the standard for returns. However, even this 42 per cent 
standard is not enforced. According to the census report the av¬ 
erage return is at 25 per cent of the real value. It would not be 
so bad if everybody returned his property at 25 per cent. But 
such is not the case. Each man tries to match the other. When 
John Brown decides to return his property at 20 per cent Bill 
Jones, not to be outdone, makes a return at 15 per cent and so it 
goes. It should be clearly evident that a revaluation of all the 
property in the State is very necessary. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 35 


In 1922 the legislature took steps to remedy the tax situation. 
Such measures as the income, inheritance, and gasoline tax, are 
steps in the right direction. It is not just to put the burden of 
taxation on the back of the owner of tangible property. Up until 
1922 the tangible property owners in South Carolina paid 90 per 
cent of the taxes. The average for the country is 65 per cent. 
There is no reason why the man with a good income, but without 
property should not pay his share. The good work has been 
started and should be carried on. Let us get away from a system 
of taxation, the working of which has been described by the spe¬ 
cial committee as being “as much of an outlaw business as the 
gentle are of cracking safes or of distilling moonshine whiskey.” 

Banks 

In 1914 there were in Kershaw County four state banks and one 
national bank. Their combined resources amounted to $1,389,949. 
64. By 1922 the number of state banks had increased to six. The 
total resources of these six state banks and the one national bank 
amounted to $3,312,352.23. Thus we see that within this period 
of eight years the resources increased by the amount of $1,922,- 
402.59 or 138 per cent. The loans and discounts for 1914 were 
$1,078,988.43 as against $2,373,202.86 for 1922. This means an in¬ 
crease of $1,294,214.43 or 110 per cent. For the year 1914 the cap¬ 
ital stock amounted to $341,500. In 1922 this item was $648,285.72. 
The increase in this particular was $306,685.72 or 90 per cent. 

The year 1914 was selected in order that a basis of comparison 
with pre-war conditions might be had. These figures indicate an 
increase in prosperity in our county—an increase which should be 
the cause of optimism to our people. 

Facts About Wealth and Taxation in Kershaw County 

21st —In total wealth, 1920......$28,661,604 

Charleston County is the wealthiest in the State, 
the amount for that county being $154,529,672; the 
lowest aggregate wealth in the State is $13,822,284 
for Allendale County. 

32nd—In value of all farm property, 1920 Census.... $13,570,006 

Anderson County ranks highest with a total farm 
wealth of $61,635,823. Jasper County has the least 
favorable record, her farm wealth amounting to 
$4,255,029. 

18th —In per capita crop values (based on eleven leading 

cfops)_'_—--—- $144.77 

Calhoun County ranks first with a per capita eval- 






36 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 

uation of $234.01; Charleston County has the least 
favorable record in this particular, the figure for 
that county being $25.37. 

19th—In value of crops per acre (based on 11 leading 


crops)' _ $34.00 

Beaufort County ranks first with $72; York, Mc¬ 
Cormick and Lancaster counties come last with 
$27. 

25th—In value of non-food crops, 1920 --- $6,076,027 

Orangeburg County ranks first with $18,216,362; 

Beaufort County ranks last with $769,083. 

10th—In average improved acreage per farm, 1920. 34.4 

Allendale County ranks first with 55.2; Beaufort 
ranks last with 21.8. 

30th—In total number of farms, 1920 _ 3,663 

Anderson County ranks first with 8,910 farms; Jas¬ 
per County last with 1,281. 

20th—In area of counties in square miles, 1920- 673 


Berkeley County with 1,238 square miles, has the 
largest area; Cherokee has the smallest area, 
373 square miles. 

35th—In per cent increase in taxable property,1910- 


1920 _____ 33.84 

Florence County ranks first with an increase of 
123.72 per cent; in Barnwell there was a decrease 
of 27.7 per cent. 

22nd—In tax rate per $100 assessed valuation, 1920. 2.90 

Pickens County ranks first with $4; Beaufort 
comes last with $2. 

25th—In average general levy in county, not including 

the principal town districts, in 1920 (mills)_ 36 


Dillon County ranks first with 4914; Aiken comes 
last with 30^4. 

9th—In percentage that assessed value of land per 


acre is to census value_.__ 15.6 

Jasper County comes first with 22.9; Clarendon 
ranks last with 7.2 per cent. 

34th—In number of inhabitants per bank. 4,200 

There are seven banks in the county. 


Abbeville ranks first with 2,714 people per bank; 

* Jasper County ranks last with 9,868. The State 
average is 3644. 

31st—In total banking resources-$1,064,712.74 

Charleston County ranks first with $18,981,051.53; 















Kershaw County : Economic and Social 37 


Jasper County comes last with $76,242.57. 

39th—In percentage of Liberty Loan quotas subscribed 
Darlington County ranks first with 124 per cent. 
Newberry County comes last with 13 per cent. 

9th—In percentage increase in per capita total bank¬ 
ing resources in South Carolina, 1914-1919- 

Saluda County ranks first with an increase of 469 
per cent; Berkeley County comes at the foot of 
the list with a loss of 75 per cent. 

43rd—In per capita school expenditures according to 

enrollment of whites, 1920 _ 

Darlington County ranks first with an expenditure 
of $72.67 per capita; Abbeville County ranks last 
with a per capita expenditure of $16.69. The 
State average is $26.08. 

27th—In per capita school expenditures, according to 

enrollment of negroes, 1920- 

Charleston County stands at the head of the list 
with a per capita expenditure of $11.57; Bamberg 
County ranks last, her expenditure per capita 
being $1.45. The average for the State is $3.04. 

42nd—In per capita expenditures, according to both 

races, 1920 _ 

Charleston County stands first with a per capita 
expenditure of $33.11; McCormick County ranks 
last with $7.23. The State average is $13.93. 

22nd—In percentage that white mortgaged farms are 

of total farms owned by whites, 1910 Census....... 

The State average is 9.5 per cent. 

20th—In per cent mortgaged farms are of all farms,— 

1920 -........---- 

Oconee County stands first with 14.7 per cent. 
Marlboro County has the best record, with 2.6 
per cent. 

15th—In per cent of negro farms mortgaged, 1920- 

Beaufort County with 1.4 per cent, has the most 
favorable record; Edgefield County ranks last with 
48.5 per cent. The State average is 23.3 per cent. 

16th—In per cent negro owned farms are of total farms 
Beaufort County ranks first with 78 per cent; Dil¬ 
lon County comes last with 2 per cent. 

10th—In average improved acreage per farm, 1920- 

Allendale County ranks first with 55.2 per cent; 


65.8 


238 


$16.88 


$2.32 


$8.43 


6.8 

7.1 


19.3 


11 

34.4 











38 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Georgetown County comes last with 21 per cent. 

26th—In total value of all school property, 1920... 

Greenville County, with school property of the 
value of $2,568,374, ranks first; York County ranks 
last with $553,810. 

23rd—In capital invested in textile industries, 1920. 

Spartanburg County ranks first with an aggregate 
invested capital of $20,886,724. 

27th—In number of inhabitants per automobile_ 

Greenville County ranks first with 11.8; Berkeley 
County ranks last with 60.3. The average for the 
State is 18.6. 

21st—In per capita wealth (based on assessed values as 

25 per cent) 1920 _ 

Richland County ranks first with $1,509.19; Horry 
comes last with $568.35. 

26th —In percentage of farm tenancy, 1920_ 

Marlboro County ranks first with 85.6 per cent; 
Beaufort County comes last with 14.9 per cent. 
The average for the State is 64.5 per cent. 


$263,335 


$626,981 

22.3 


$975 

67.1 








V. 


SCHOOLS 


George H. Wittkowsky. 


Of all the duties that devolve upon a modern, civilized govern¬ 
ment none are more important than the education of the young. 
A state may be judged, with a high degree of accuracy, by the 
efforts made by it to educate its children. In this duty the State 
of South Carolina and the County of Kershaw have not come up 
to the standard set by other sections of the country. In this chap¬ 
ter we hope to give a fair idea of how South Carolina compares 
with other states and Kershaw with other counties in the matter 
of education, and to point out the tendencies in educational affairs 
in the county as we see them. We regret that in the attempt to 
lay the facts before the people ours will be the task of painting 
a picture which will not be altogether pleasing. Kershaw County 
as well as the rest of the State needs to be aroused to the inade¬ 
quacy of her educational system; and this can only be done by a 
plain statement of the facts. 

Attendance 

In the percentage of the total number of pupils attending school 
regularly, Kershaw County ranks twenty-eighth. The percentage 
for Kershaw County is 68.42. In the percentage of white enrolled 
students in regular attendance our record is even less favorable. 
Only 66.46 per cent of the white children enrolled attend school 
regularly. In this respect the negro children show a better record 
than the white, as 70.25 per cent of the enrolled colored children 
are in regular attendance. There are thirty-three counties in the 
State which are able to show a better record for white attendance 
than Kershaw. At the time this article is being written there is 
no truant officer in the county. The schools are so crowded that 
the authorities deem it unwise to take this method of increasing 
the enrollment. Instead, this duty of enforcing attendance, which 
should be performed by a separate officer, has fallen upon the 
shoulders of the County Superintendent of Education. It is clear- 




40 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


ly evident that there is need of better school facilities throughout 
the county in order that every child may be given a chance to se¬ 
cure an education. 

The above unfavorable facts are partly offset by our standing 
in the average length of school session. We rank eleventh in 
the State in this particular. The average for Kershaw County is 
176 days, whereas Calhoun, Georgetown, Lancaster and Richland 
counties tie for first place with an average each of 180 days. 

It is also gratifying to note that from 1911 to 1921 the white 
enrollment jumped from 2,666 to 4,246 and the negro enrollment 
from 3,130 to 5,072. The total enrollment increased 3,522 during 
these ten years. 

Poor attendance is an economic as well as a social loss to a 
county, as has been pointed out in other bulletins of this series. 
The expense of running a school is the same regardless of whether 
the attendance is good or not. There is no difference in overhead 
expense. The trustees have to be guided in their outlay of funds 
by the total enrollment. The result is that every absence means 
so much loss of time and energy on the part of the teacher; and 
loss of money by the county. When we take into consideration 
the fact that in Kershaw County only 68.42 per cent of the total 
enrolled pupils attend school regularly, then we realize that poor 
attendance is an economic liability to the county of no slight 
nature. These facts should impress upon the mind of the reader 
the urgent need for a truant officer. The law requiring all coun¬ 
ties to employ such an officer has been abolished; and it is now 
left to the county itself to determine whether or not such an officer 
shall be employed. The Kershaw County Board of Education 
has decided not to employ such an officer. The inadequacy of 
school facilities which forced the Board to take this action is to 
be deplored. ~ 

The fact that the schools in Kershaw County are not in a posi¬ 
tion to take care of all the children who should be in school is a 
grave indictment of educational conditions in the county. The 
fault lies not in the remissness of any one man, but in the gen¬ 
eral attitude toward appropriations for educational purposes. 
The urgent cry is for means of taking care of the school popula¬ 
tion of the county. 

Teachers 

We have already ventured the opinion that a government may 
be judged with a fair degree of accuracy by the condition of its 
educational system. It is also true that an educational system may 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 41 

be measured by the type of teachers employed. Good teachers 
.make good schools. Where the teachers are of low quality the 
schools are correspondingly inefficient. School building and 
equipment are important but they sink into relative insignificance 
when compared with the value of good teachers. A true teacher, 
endowed with a high character, trained by a good education and 
inspired by a genuine zeal can do great things in a log cabin, 
equipped with benches made of split logs. On the contrary, a 
poorly educated, uninspired and uninspiring teacher will fail even 
though her class room be located in a building of palatial size and 
appointment and the equipment of the school be the latest pro¬ 
ductions of science. 

Someone may ask, “If good teachers are of so much importance, 
how may they be secured?” The answer is by paying them de¬ 
cent salaries. The adequate preparation for the teaching pro¬ 
fession requires years of time and thousands of dollars of money. 
Naturally the teacher desires a fair salary as a recompense for 
this expenditure of money and time. 

What sort of bid do the people of Kershaw County make for 
good teachers? Let the figures tell their own tale. The average 
salary paid white male teachers in the County is $739.19. Con¬ 
trast this amount with the average in Charleston County which is 
$2,317.62 and it will be seen that Kershaw lags far behind. In 
fact, there are thirty-six counties in the state which pay men 
teachers better salaries. The average salary paid white women 
teachers in Kershaw County is $409.51. The average for the 
County of Charleston is $890.25. In this respect we stand forty- 
third among the counties of the state. As long as Kershaw 
County continues to pay male teachers salaries which would be 
scornfully turned down by a skilled colored laborer; and as long as v 
she continues to pay the white women to whom is entrusted the 
high duties of a teacher a salary which would not satisfy a mill 
hand, so long must she expect inefficiency in her school system. 
The only way for Kershaw County to get better teachers is to pay 
for them. 

Consolidation 

One of the greatest defects in our educational system is the 
large number of one-teacher schools. From the standpoint of 
efficiency and economy one-teacher schools are a serious prob¬ 
lem. It is impossible for one teacher to do justice to thirty or 
forty pupils divided into several grades, each of which is pursuing 
a different 'course of study. Where such conditions obtain, it is 


42 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


really impossible for one teacher to bring order out of chaos. 

In Kershaw County, 41.81 per cent of the white schools are one- 
teacher schools. Contrast our record with that of Darlington 
County where only 10.34 per cent are one-teacher schools. It is 
likewise interesting to note the small average enrollment to the 
school in Kershaw County. The average is thirty-one white pu¬ 
pils and forty-two negroes. In the average number of white 
pupils to the school we rank 39th. In the average number of ne¬ 
groes we rank 37th. These figures are startling and indicate that 
the educational system of the county is inadequate. 

We believe that the solution of the problem lies in consolida¬ 
tion. Where two or more small and weak institutions are located 
near each other they should be combined. The advantages of 
consolidation are manifold. Among other things it insures larger 
enrollment, better attendance, high school opportunity for a third 
of the cost, better trained teachers, an opportunity for teachers to 
specialize instead of vainly endeavoring to train themselves to 
teach all the subjects in the curriculum, the benefits of the graded 
system, better supervision of school work and better buildings and 
equipment. 

But consolidation cannot always be brought about successfully 
unless adequate means are taken for getting the pupils to school. 
This means better roads and free transportation. In 1919 Rich¬ 
land County spent $4,807.39 for this purpose. 

P. P. Claxton, former U. S. Commissioner of Education is res¬ 
ponsible for the following statements: 

“The improvement and consolidation of rural schools and the 
use of such schools as rural social centers have a marked influ¬ 
ence upon the prosperity and intellectual development of the peo¬ 
ple who live in the country. The movement in this direction has 
only begun and its continued progress is dependent in a large 
measure upon the improvement of highways and highway trans¬ 
portation. Better roads are essential to better rural schools.” 

Index Figure 

The educational index figure, devised by Dr. Leonard P. Ayers, 
Director of the Department of Education of the Russell Sage 
Foundation, is a means by which the relative efficiency of educa¬ 
tional systems may be computed. Ten items which indicate the 
condition of educational work are taken into consideration. The 
average for these ten items is then arrived at. An average of 100 
per cent, according to the standard adopted by Dr. Ayers, would 
indicate a perfect school system. 


Rank of Kershaw County’s Schools 




o 

i 








o 

3 


% 

ft 

(A 

X 

CD 

O 

0 

c 

Co 

o 

j~ 

0 

0 


cn 


CHART NUMBER 1 

A graphic re prese nfeiTion of the con- 





















































































. 

. 




































































































































































































































































« 








Kershaw County : Economic and Social 43 


The Russell Sage Foundation has found that Montana has the 
highest index figure. Montana is followed by California, Arizona, 
and New Jersey. South Carolina has the lowest rating. The 
figure for South Carolina is 29.39. For Montana the figure is 75.79. 
The figure for Kershaw County is 31.26. 

The following is the table from which the index figure for the 
county has been computed: 


Index Figures for Kershaw County Schools: 1910 and 1920. 


. \ 

1910 White 

1 

1910 Colored 

1920 White 

1920 Colored 

1910 White 

and Colored 

1920 White 

and Colored 

1. Per cent of school popu¬ 
lation attending school daily 

54.22 

53.29 

75.90 

70.60 

53.50 

72.70 

2. Average days attended by 
each child of school age. 

33.25 

20.10 

48.93 

26.80 

26.63 

35.50 

3. Average number of days 
schools were kept open ...... 

62.50 

20.10 

64.50 

38.00 

50.00 

51.25 

4. Per cent that high school 
tendance was of total at¬ 
tendance _ 

.042 

00.00 

.035 

00.00 

.021 

.018 

5. Per cent that boys were 
of girls in high school*. 

73.41 

oo.oo| 

00.85 

00.00 

36.75 

00.85 

6. Average expenditure per 
child in average attendance.- 

14.98 

2.35 

22.30 

2.94 

7.10 

10.86 

7. Average expenditure per 
child of school age . 

8.12 

1.26 

16.92 

2.07 

3.81 

7.90 

8. Average expenditure per 
teacher employed . 

14.65 

4.70 

27.71 

4.85 

10.04 

17.22 

9. Expenditure per pupil 
for purposes other than 
teachers’ salaries - 

2.20 

00.41 

9.22 

0.172 

1.08 

3.88 

10. Expenditure per teacher 
employed for salaries - 

25.10 

8.58 

36.02 

14.70 

18.54 

28.29 

Kershaw County Index . 

28.85 

13.85 

38.65 

20.02 

20.74 

31.26 

State Index . 





24.87 

29.39 


♦State figures. As the figures for the county on this item were 
not available we used the State figures. 


























44 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


Negro Schools 

In South Carolina the education of the whites and of the ne¬ 
groes is carried on separately. Naturally, the system of white 
schools is superior to the colored schools. However, the discrep¬ 
ancy is greater than it should be. The education of all the child¬ 
ren of the county, white or black, is a duty not to be shirked. In 
1920 Kershaw County expended $8.43 per capita of enrolled pupils 
as against $16.88 for whites. The average number of negro pupils 
per teacher is forty. For the whites the average is nineteen. It is 
interesting to note that 70.25 per cent of the negroes enrolled are 
in regular attendance, whereas only 66.46 per cent of the whites 
enrolled attend school regularly. These figures are significant. 
They indicate the interest taken in education by the negroes of 
our county. Attention should, however, be called to the rapid 
strides made by the negro school system of the county within the 
last few years. As some sage once pointed out, it matters not so 
much where one is; the genuine test is where he started from, how 
far he has gone, and in which direction he is headed. Judging the 
negro school system by these criteria, a more favorable aspect is 
given to the situation. In 1910 the expenditures for negro schools 
were $6,543.90. In 1920 the figure was $13,462.36. It is to be hoped 
that expenditures for education in Kershaw County, both for ne¬ 
groes and whites, will increase as the years go by. 

Facts About Education in Kershaw County 

28th—In percentage of total enrolled pupils in regular 

attendance, 1920._ 68.42 

Georgetown headed the list with 84.89 per cent; 

Dillon ranks 46th with 61.51 per cent. 

34th—In percentage of white enrolled pupils in reguler 

attendance, 1920._ 66.46 

Georgetown comes first with 80.89 per cent; 

Cherokee comes last with 60.30 per cent. The av¬ 
erage for the State is 67.91 per cent. 

24th—In percentage of enrolled negroes in regular at¬ 
tendance, 1920.- 70.25 

Georgetown stands first with 87.24 per cent; 

Hampton County is listed lowest with 61.31 per 
cent. The average for the State is 70.60 per cent. 

20th—In percentage of white schools that are one- 

teacher schools, 1921._ 41.81 







Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


45 


Dillon County has the most favorable record with 
only 41 per cent; Beaufort, with 76.47 per cent, has 
the worst record. The average for the State is 
43.22 per cent. 

11th—In average length of session in days in white town 

town schools, 1920____ 176 

Georgetown, Lancaster and Richland tie for first 
place with an average each of 180 days; Horry 
County comes last with an average of 136 days. 

42nd—In per capita expenditures according to total en¬ 


rollment, 1920__ $8.43 

Charleston ranks first with $33.11; McCormick 
comes last with $7.23. The average is $13.93. 

43rd—In per capita expenditure according to white en¬ 
rollment, 1920. . $16.88 

Darlington County ranks first with an expenditure 
of $72.67; Abbeville ranks last with $16.69. The 
average for the State is $26.08. 

27th—In per capita expenditure according to negro en¬ 
rollment, 1920__ ' _ $8.43 


Charleston County ranks first with $11.57; Bam¬ 
berg comes at the bottom of the list with $1.45. 
The average for the State is $3.04. 

26th—In per capita investment in school property ac¬ 


cording to population, 1920__ $8.92 

Florence County ranks first with $29.07; Fairfield 
County is at the bottom of the list with $2.77. 

26th—In total value of all school property, 1920--$263,335.00 

Greenville County ranks first with $2,568,374; 

Jasper stands at the bottom of the list with 
$38,042.00. 

20th—In receipts from State appropriations for 1920. $18,632.50 

Spartanburg County ranks first with $49,511.38; 

Jasper County comes last with $3,180. 

37th—In average salaries paid to white men teachers, 

1920__:_ $739.19 


Charleston pays the highest average salary, $2,- 
317.62. The lowest average salary paid is $537.60 
by Lexington County. 

43rd—In average salaries paid white women teachers, 

1920. _______ $409.51 

Charleston County heads the list with $890.25; 

Lexington County pays white women the lowest 
salaries, $385.38. 














40 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 

18th —In number of local school tax districts, 1920- 

Greenville heads the list with 97. Beaufort comes 
last with 9. 

15th —In number of school districts levying special 

taxes, 1920. _ 

Horry ranks first with 93. Jasper tails the list 
with 4. 

22nd—In average number of white pupils per teacher, 

1919 ___ 

Greenville ranks first with 31 pupils per teacher; 
Jasper and Williamsburg come last with an aver¬ 
age each of 15 pupils to a teacher. The average 
for the State is 21. 

24th—In average number of negro children per teacher, 

Calhoun County ranks first with 82; Jasper and 
Oconee, with 27 each, are to be found at the bot¬ 
tom of the list. The average for the State is 42. 
39th —In average number of white children to a school, 

1920 __ 

Charleston County ranks first with 114 pupils to a 
school; Jasper comes last with 21. The aver¬ 
age for the State is 51. 

37th—In average number of colored children to a 

school, 1920. _ 

Charleston County, with 130 to a school, heads the 
list; Jasper ranks last with 27. The State average 
is 55. 








Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


47 


Ten Year Gains in Kershaw County School Affairs 



1909-10 

1919-20 

Percent 

Gain 

Total expenditures for both races. 

$32,767.46 

$84,306.78 

157.00 

Total expenditures for whites . 

27,425.00 

70,844.42 

154.67 

Total expenditures for negroes- 

6,543.90 

13,462.36 

105.72 

Expenditures for teachers’ salaries 

30,266.83 

69,271.03 

129.00 

Average salary paid white men 
teachers .. 

425.00 

739.19 

73.90 

Average salary paid white women 
teachers ....... .. 

301.00 

409.51 

36.05 

Number of white teachers .. 

78 

130 

67 

Number of colored teachers . 

58 

74 

22 

Total number of teachers . 

136 

200 

50 

Attendance .... .... 

4,611 

7,107 

54 

Total school enrollment ..... 

5.720 

10,004 

74.88 

Negro enrollment ----- 

3,120 

5,809 

86.20 

White enrollment --- 

2,600 

4,195 

38.47 

Average length of white session . 

125 

129 

.032 

Average length of negro session — 

75 

76 

.013 
























VI. 


KERSHAW AGRICULTURE 


J. Louie Moseley. 


When we attempt to discuss agriculture we touch upon a sub¬ 
ject that practically every person in the county is interested in. 
Vitally interested, because the cultivation of the soil is the chief 
occupation of the majority of the people of our county. If our 
soil output is lowered the incomes of the majority are decreased 
as a result. 

In the following discussion we try to bring out, in a helpful way, 
the chief problems and questions that confront the farmers of Ker¬ 
shaw County today. We also endeavor to analyze the present 
economic condition of the farming population in its relation to 
methods of farming now followed. 

Land in Farms 

Of the total land in the county, 71.1 per cent, or 305,242 acres 
are in farms. We rank 31st in the per cent that farm land is of 
the total land in the county. Beaufort County has the greatest 
per cent of her land in farms, with 74.6 per cent; Horry ranks last, 
having only 56.9 per cent of her land in farms. 

We have 145,906 acres of improved land on our farms. Im¬ 
proved land, according to the definition of the U. S. Census is, “all 
land regularly tilled or mowed, land pastured and cropped in ro¬ 
tation, land lying fallow, land in gardens, orchards, nurseries, and 
land occupied by buildings.” 

The improved land in Kershaw County is seen to be a small 
part of the total farm land. Only 47.8 per cent of the land in 
farms is improved. This is entirely too little for our county. 
Our rank, 30th, among the counties of the state shows our rela¬ 
tive standing. A comparison of the improved land in 1910 with 
that of 1920 shows an increase of 9.4 per cent, which is a very 
creditable advance. We are on the right track and in a few 
more years ought to have a much larger percentage of our farm 
land in use. 








Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


49 


Idle Lands 

We have estimated that it will take 50,000 acres of land to pro¬ 
duce enough timber and wood products for our county’s con¬ 
sumption. After setting aside these acres that should be in wood¬ 
land, we have 87,523 acres of land not used for any profitable pur¬ 
pose. Allowing 75 acres to the average family of five members, 
there is room for 1,167 new families, or 5,835 people. An addi¬ 
tion to the county of this number of people would be a distinct 
social and economic gain. A thinly settled country cannot have 
good schools, churches, and roads. Neither can it have those 
social contacts which are so necessary for contentment and pro¬ 
gress. 

It would not be possible for people to occupy and cultivate all 
of our idle land. The low fertility of the soil in some sections dis¬ 
courages any attempt to make it produce. But most of our idle 
lands could be put to very profitable use. In Richland and Ches¬ 
terfield counties the attempts to raise peaches and other fruits 
on the sandy land have met with encouraging success in many 
sections. Idle land comprises about 23 per cent of the area of 
the county. Prosperity is very seldom found in a sparsely settled 
region. 


The Use of Farm Machinery 

It is a well known fact that we of the cotton producing section 
are backward in the use of farm machinery. Several reasons ac¬ 
count for this state of affairs. The raising of cotton which is 
mostly picked by hand; the size of our farms has had its effect; 
the over-large number of tenants; and the ignorance and back¬ 
wardness of the majority of the farmers have been contributing 
factors. 

The size of our farms probably has more than any other cause 
kept labor saving machinery off the farm. The average size of 
the farms of Kershaw County is 72 acres. An owner of a small 
farm of 72 acres cannot buy high priced farm machinery, no mat¬ 
ter how much he needs it. At the end of chapter is a table giv¬ 
ing the number and sizes of the farms of the county. 

The average investment per acre of farm implements and mach¬ 
inery in our county was $6.32 in 1920. We are very backward in 
this respect, ranking 35th among the counties of the State. 

With increasing competition every year, better methods of 
farming must be used, or our farmers are going to find themselves 
in a very unprofitable occupation. If it were possible to increase 


50 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


the size of the farms, the arduous and never-ceasing hand labor 
could be replaced by labor saving devices to a large extent. 

Cotton and Other Non-Food Crops 

In 1921 the production of cotton in Kershaw County was 13,000 
bales, as estimated by B. B. Hare, Agricultural Statistician in 
South Carolina for the Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates, 
United States Department of Agriculture. The production in 
1920 was approximately 40,000 bales.. That is quite a reduction, 
only one-third as much produced in 1921 as in 1920. The cause 
for this is largely the result of the ravages of the boll-weevil. 
Unofficial reports estimate a crop of about 12,000 bales in 1922. 
Of course the unfavorable weather conditions and a reduction in 
the use of fertilizers are partly to blame for the small crops dur¬ 
ing the past two years. But the boll weevil did by far the 
greater damage. The total acreage in 1921 was 62,000 as com¬ 
pared with 54,445 acres picked in 1920. 

The total value of the cotton crop of 1921, based on the price 
of December 1 was estimated to be $1,040,000. The value in 1920 
was $6,076,027. The cotton crop of 1920 was 73 per cent of the 
total crop values of the county. Kershaw ranked 7th in cotton 
raised per acre in 1920, with 288 pounds per acre. 

It might be said that cotton is our only non-food crop. The 
census report which gives the production of the counties from 
10,000 pounds upwards does not list Kershaw County as a tobacco 
producting county. A small amount is planted every year. For 
the last few years the acreage has been steadily increasing. With 
the rise in prices during the last year, we may look for a much 
larger crop of tobacco in the future. 

Food Crops 

In a study of agricultural practices and methods an important 
item to be considered should be that of food crops. It is an es¬ 
tablished fact that the production of food and feed crops go hand 
in hand with economic independence and advancement. If a 
county or community raises enough food-stuffs to supply its own 
needs, it can well afford to hold its money crops off the market 
in times of low prices and wait until the prices rise again. 

“By food and feed crops is meant those crops which can be 
consumed by man and beast for the sustaining of life.” In Ker¬ 
shaw County, the chief food crops are corn, oats, dry peas, wheat, 
and sweet potatoes. Last year (1921) the value of all food crops 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 5i 

amounted to $2,177,494. This was only 27 per cent of the total 
crop value. The farmers of Kershaw County put almost one- 
fourth as much emphasis on food crops as they do on non-food 
crops. 

In the discussions below, each one of the chief food crops is 
taken up and comparisons made between yields and conditions of 
cultivation in 1910, 1920, and some of 1921. It is hoped that these 
discussions will give our farmers an idea of our standing and our 
needs. 

Com 

The most useful and important food crop raised in Kershaw 
County is corn. In 1921 we raised 645,000 bushels of corn, with 
an approximate value of $477,300. This is almost one-half as 
much as our cotton crop was worth during the same year. Our 
production of corn in 1920 was 675,000 bushels and was worth ap¬ 
proximately $783,000. A comparison of the acreage of the two 
years might well be shown here. In 1920 there was planted 
45,000 acres of corn and during 1921 only 43,000 acres were 
planted. It is seen that there was a decrease instead of an in¬ 
crease. This should not be the case; especially since the advent 
of the boll-weevil. 

The above estimates show that the farmers of Kershaw County 
have not fully realized the need for the raising of staple food 
crops. Since corn products are used so widely in this section, 
more of it ought to be planted from year to year. No tarmer in 
South Carolina can say that the yield of corn properly planted 
and cultivated is too small. The world’s records in corn produc¬ 
tion and in cost of raising corn were made in our State. 

The comparison between 1910 and 1920 is somewhat more en¬ 
couraging than between 1920 and 1921. The total production in¬ 
creased 240,015 bushels, or an increase of 62.6 per cent, in which 
particular we rank 9th. 

Oats 

According to the United States Census, the production of oats 
in Kershaw County was reduced from 88,313 bushels in 1910 to 
49,776 bushels in 1920. In the number of acres planted, we had 
a corresponding decline; 4,829 acres in 1910 and only 2,777 acres 
during 1920. Comparing the reports of the Bureau of Crop Es¬ 
timates from 1920 to 1921 the decline is shown to be still contin¬ 
uing. We hold a somewhat low rank among the counties in the 
production of oats per acre, ranking 22nd; and 26th in yield per 
capita. 


52 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


At this time, it is distressing that our production of such an im¬ 
portant grain as oats is so small and still decreasing each year. 
With the same number of acres planted and the use of fertilizers, 
we could greatly increase our yield of oats in the future. As high 
as 75 bushels per acre can be raised very easily. If this were done 
to any extent the people of the whole county would reap the ben¬ 
efits—the money spent each year for oats to feed stock with could 
be kept at home. The rotation of the crops alone would add 
much to the fertility of the soil and not impoverish it as the one- 
crop farming system does. 


Wheat 

Kershaw’s rank in the production of wheat per capita in 1920 
was 26th, with a yield of 0.2 bushels. Nine other counties had 
the same yield per person as Kershaw. We stood 27th in bushels 
raised per acre. The yield was 7.1 bushels. A comparison of 
the United States Census reports of 1910 and 1920 shows an in¬ 
crease of 6,526 bushels. That is more significant than one would 
expect from the figure alone. In 1909, the yield was only 858 
bushels, while, in 1919, we produced 7,384 bushels. The acreage 
rose from 95 acres in 1909 to 1„034 acres in 1919. 

Though the increase above is small in numbers, it marks an 
important step forward. We are sadly deficient yet in the pro¬ 
duction of wheat. Every bushel that we raise at home keeps just 
that much money here that the western and northern farmers 
and the middlemen would get had we not produced it. There is 
no chanfce of our wheat consumption being lowered; therefore, 
the demand will increase instead of slackening. As an essential 
staple food, we ought to continue to raise more and more wheat 
from year to year. 

We might say that the showing made in wheat production dur¬ 
ing the last eleven years is the most encouraging of any of our 
basic food necessities. An increase was made only in corn and 
wheat. 

Potatoes 

Kershaw’s showing in the production of jrish potatoes from 1910 
to 1920 has almost doubled. In 1909, on 62 acres, 3,603 bushels 
were raised. In 1919 the acreage had increased to 107 and the 
yield was 6.588 or an increase of 82.8 per cent. As irish pota¬ 
toes form such a large part of our diet, it seems that they would 
be planted more extensively. The average yield per acre is good, 
Kershaw having 61.6 bushels per acre as the average in 1919, 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 53 


During 1909 the production of sweet potatoes was 87,392 bush¬ 
els, with a yield of 78.2 bushels per acre. The production of 1919 
reached 101,128 bushels, and the average yield per acre was almost 
99 bushels. Our production per acre compares favorably with 
any county of the State. 

With the development of better methods of marketing and care 
of the potato crop and the cotton bandit, the boll-weevil, to con¬ 
tend with, there should be more extensive raising of sweet pota¬ 
toes on our farms. Sweet potatoes are used and liked by prac¬ 
tically everyone in the county. The diet of our people is com¬ 
posed very largely of potatoes. They contain great food value 
and can be eaten in many palatable ways. Naturally then, we 
ought to raise sweet potatoes in abundance for home needs and 
shipment to other counties or states that do not realize the value 
of a large potato crop. 

Peas and Beans 

Not until the last few years has much attention been given to 
the growth of velvet, soy, and other varieties of beans. The 
raising of beans and cowpeas as cover crops add much to the fer¬ 
tility of the soil. Being leguminous crops, they both add to the 
nitrogen content of the soil. Peas and beans can be broadcast 
or planted with corn, in the rows, or between them. We have 
much land that would be benefitted by a crop of peas or beans, 
as they add so much to its fertility. 

The cowpea has a variety of uses in Kershaw County. It is 
used as a table food very extensively. It makes very good hay 
and is almost the sole crop planted in our county for that purpose. 

The United States Census shows a decrease in the production 
of peas from 1910 to 1920. The total number of bushels raised 
in 1909 was 20,788, while in 1919 the yield had been lowered and 
was only 14,652 bushels. The yield per acre shows an improve¬ 
ment. From 2.8 bushels per acre in 1909 we produced an average 
of 4.2 bushels in 1919, an increase of 50 per cent. Our decrease 
is probably due to the substitution of velvet beans and similar 
legumes. At least this is a charitable way of explaining the sit¬ 
uation. , 

The cowpea succeeds on practically all types of soil. It does 
apparently quite as well on sandy soils as on heavy clays, but 
will do better than clover or alfalfa on thin soils or soils that 
are poor in lime. No other legume can be grown so successfully 
and on such a variety of soils under adverse conditions as the 
cowpea, A yer y rich spil is not conducive to the best results 


54 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


with this crop. On such a soil an abundant vine growth is pro¬ 
duced, while the yield of grain is small. Poor soils will not pro¬ 
duce as much vine but a better proportion of seed. It may be 
said that the cowpea will do best on good corn land, but will 
thrive on all types of soil that are well drained, properly inocu¬ 
lated and moderately rich. 

Livestock and Poultry 

Kershaw holds her own in the production of all kinds of live¬ 
stock and products, except horses and sheep. A comparison be¬ 
tween the years 1910 and 1920 shows that we had a large increase 
in all but these two lines. We ranked in 1920, 22nd in the value 
of livestock products per person. They were worth $9.67 in that 
year. 

Between 1910 and 1920, Kershaw County increased the total 
number of cattle 2,016, or, a little over 29 per cent. We ranked 
19th in the percentage increase. These figures include the in¬ 
crease in dairy cows, which numbered 3,286 in 1910 and 3,786 by 
1920. That shows that a larger increase was made in beef cattle 
than in dairy cattle. The total value rose from $126,328 in 1910 
to $406,108 in 1920. There is room on every farm for a few cattle. 
The farmer who fails to take advantage of this fact loses an out¬ 
let for much of his farm produce. Much is wasted on the average 
farm that could be fed to cattle and other livestock and would 
net an appreciable return. 

Our percentage increase in hogs, 1910-1920, was 73 per cent, in 
which we ranked 25th among the counties. Bamberg County had 
the same percentage increase as did Kershaw. Our total value 
of swine in 1909 was $39,929; by 1919 it had increased to $187,- 
042. This increase compares favorably with any county in the 
State. The number of hogs in 1910 was 10,686. By 1920 the 
number had grown to 14,724. Kershaw County ranked 24th in 
pork production per capita in 1920, with 74.6 pounds per person. 
Kershaw’s showing in hog production demonstrates that there is 
more attention being paid to this important food source by the 
farmers of the county. Since the advent of the boll-weevil the 
South Carolina farmer has been forced to raise more corn, velvet 
beans, cowpeas, and soy beans, and it if were not for livestock, 
he would be hard put to it to market these crops. The above 
mentioned crops are particularly well suited to pork production, 
and more and more hogs should be raised in this county. In the 
above it is not meant to raise hogs to the exclusion of other live¬ 
stock, but to increase the attention given to swine each year. 
Hog raising takes care of much roughage that would otherwise 


Kershaw County: Economic and Social 55 

be wasted on the average farm where home grown feeds are raised. 

Our number of mules increased in the period between 1910 and 
1920 approximately 50 per cent, or 1,447 in number, while the total 
value in 1920 was 100 per cent more than in 1910. The total was 
$219,129, a comparatively small increase of $47,531 over the 1910 
report. The number of horses shows a decline. From 1,531 in 
1910 we had a loss in numbers of 108 by 1920. This decrease in 
the number of horses is probably due to the larger use of auto¬ 
mobiles for travelling and pleasure. Our backwardness in the 
use of farm machinery is naturally the cause of the greater num¬ 
ber and better breed of mules, as shown by the increase in value. 

At the beginning of 1920, we had 69,444 chickens in the county. 
Compared with the number in 1910, we had an increase of 23,342, 
or approximately 51 per cent, ranking 15th in this respect. A 
comparison of the number of chickens raised in 1909-1919 shows 
a decline. In 1909 the number of poultry raised was 112,211, 
while in 1919 only 98,897 chickens were raised. This in indeed a 
discouraging fact. It shows that our farmers do not realize the 
large profit that can be made by the production of poultry. 

Boll Weevil Control 

An all cotton farm is a proposition of doubtful profitableness 
under normal conditions. Varying weather, our unstable market 
with fluctuations in prices, and other shifting factors make the 
undertaking fraught with financial dangers from the outset. 
When we add the long heralded boll weevil to this list of menaces 
confronting our cotton farmers, the situation becomes acute. The 
time has not come for our farmers to abandon cotton growing 
entirely. Lack of experience in raising other crops will result 
in failure if they are attempted on too large a scale. They should 
be tried on a small scale at first and those that are found to pay 
should be adopted. But cotton will continue to a certain extent 
to be our main money crop. Other communities that have suf¬ 
fered more than ours have, after the first year or two, continued 
to grow cotton profitably. It is certain though that it will re¬ 
quire more scientific methods of farming than have been practiced 
heretofore. Those who fail to practice them will be driven from 
the business. 

A special committee on boll weevil control at the gathering of 
Southern agricultural workers in session at Memphis, Tennessee, 
February 6-8, 1923, gave in their report the following recommend¬ 
ations: 

1. Even under the most intelligent farming, boll weevil in- 


56 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


festation increases the risk in cotton production. Therefore, of 
first importance is a live-at-home program with something to sell 
besides cotton. This fundamental fact cannot be too strongly 
emphasized. 

2. Even though an ample supply of calcium arsenate were 
available at a reasonable cost, probably not 10 per cent of the cot¬ 
ton acreage of all the South would be poisoned by all known 
methods of application. Therefore, those proven cultural methods 
which tend to insure greater production and indirect aid in con¬ 
trolling the weevil damage can not be too strongly stressed. 
These include: 

(a) The use of well drained, fertile soil. . 

(b) Good seed of standard early maturing varieties. 

(c) The use of ample seed in order to insure a good stand. 

(d) Closer spacing than under non-boll weevil conditions. 

(e) Intensive careful cultivation. 

(f) Liberal fertilization to induce quick growth, and stimulate 
early maturity. 

(g) Where practicable the early destruction of cotton stalks 
in the fall and of hibernating places in the field. 

In addition to the above, where poisoning is not contemplated, 
and inexpensive labor is available, the picking up and destruction 
of all punctured or infested squares for a period of 30 days will 
prove beneficial. 

3. Of the various methods of control involving the use of poi¬ 
son, the committee recommended the calcium arsenate method 
and Florida method. There are no other methods having as yet 
the sanction of adequate scientific proof. The limitations of the 
calcium arsenate dusting method lies in the fact that it has been 
found profitable only on lands capable of producing one-third to 
one-half bale per acre or more, that it requires a maximum of cal¬ 
cium arsenate, and that it must be applied at night and by use of 
machinery. Aside from these limitations, its worth, through sev¬ 
eral years and under varying conditions, has been fully and con¬ 
clusively demonstrated not only by the Experiment Stations but 
by practical farmers throughout the cotton belt. 

4. The committee was without scientific proof that would en¬ 
able it to give a definite opinion as to the effectiveness of the mo¬ 
lasses arsenate treatment. However, prominent and progressive 
farmers in South Carolina and other states claim for it a very de¬ 
cisive measure of control and experiments at the government lab¬ 
oratory at Tallulah indicate a certain measure of control in the 
early stages of the infestation when the cotton plants are small. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


57 


5. The solution of any great scientific problem such as boll 
weevil control is likely to be the work of many scientists, extend¬ 
ing over a period of years and at an expenditure of considerable 
money. Prompt and adequate support of Experiment Station 
projects along this line by the legislature is an essential element 
in the early solution of this, the greatest problem of the cotton 
growers of the south. In times of emergency, such as the present, 
numerous panaceas will be proposed. It is safe to say that most 
of these will prove worthless to the farmer, however profitable 
to their promoters. Care and economy should be exercised in 
their purchase and use. 

As the responsible agencies for scientific research in the states, 
the agricultural, colleges can recommend to the people only such 
methods as have been fully established by adequate and depend¬ 
able data. Until such proof shall be available new or untried 
methods and devices should be used with caution and with a view 
of testing their efficiency rather than depending upon them for 
successful control. 

Rural Credit 

A great forward step was made in farm finance when the Farm 
Loan Act was passed by Congress and the 12 Federal Land 
Banks were established. The land bank for the district in which 
the State of South Carolina lies is located in Columbia, South 
Carolina. The National Farm Loan Association is the local 
agency through which the farmer negotiates his loan with the 
Federal Land Bank. Such a farm loan association is an organi¬ 
zation of ten or more farmers who apply to the land bank for a 
loan of $20,000 or more. The minimum loan per individual farmer 
is $100 and the maximum is $25,000. Loans are made only to 
bona fide farmers, and upon fifty per cent of the value of the land, 
and twenty per cent of the improvements. 

There are two farm loan associations in Kershaw County. They 
are located at Camden and Kershaw. The associations have 
closed a total of 125 loans; three have been paid up, leaving 122 
now in force. The total amount of the loans equals $403,555. 
These facts indicate that Kershaw farmers have more or less real¬ 
ized the value of the farm loan association in extending credit on 
first mortgage farm security. 

The general purposes of the Farm Loan Act are as follows: 

To lower and equalize interest rates on first mortgage farm 
loans; to provide long term loans with the privilege of repayment 
upon the amortization plan in installments through a long or 


58 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


short period of years, at the borrower’s option; to stimulate co¬ 
operative effort among farmers; to make it easier for the landless 
to obtain land; and to provide safe and sound long term invest¬ 
ments for the thrifty. 

The farm loan associations over the nation are increasing in 
number and are steadily growing in popularity with the farmers 
who have become acquainted with their methods of doing busi¬ 
ness. They have enabled many men to extend their farming in¬ 
terests and others to go into farming on their own responsibility, 
who otherwise would have been doomed forever to the fate of 
tenants. 

Anything which will reduce the amount of farm tenancy in the 
nation, or that will help to lift the farmer from the “time-credit” 
plan to the cash basis of financing his farming operations is a 
contribution to the welfare of the state and nation. The Farm 
Loan Act is a long step forward in the right direction. It pro¬ 
vides excellent long term credit for the farmer at reasonable in¬ 
terest rates and with amortization privileges. 

Facts About Kershaw Agriculture 

(Based largely upon the U. S. Census of 1920)'. 

Rank: 

32nd—In value of all farm property.....-..$13,570,006 

Anderson first, $61,635,823. 

24th—In total value of farm wealth produced.... $8,253,521 

14th—In the percentage that non-food crops are of 

total annual crop value - J 73 

10th—In percentage increase in farm wealth, 1910-1920 177.8 

Georgetown first with 244.5 per cent; increase for 
State 143 per cent. 

25th—In value of non-food crops __; $6,076,027 

Orangeburg first, $18,216,362; Jasper last with 
$471,371 worth. 

18th—In per capita crop value_ 

Calhoun first with $334.01; Charleston last with 
$25.37. 

19th—In value of crops per acre __ 

Beaufort first with $72; York last with $27 per acre. 

24th—In production of cotton in bales, 1921_ 

Spartanburg first with 71,000 bales; Beaufort 
last with 100 bales. 

16th—In production of cotton in bales, 1920___ 

Orangeburg first with 93,000; Beaufort last with 
400 bales. 


$144.77 

$34 

13,000 

39,000 











Kershaw County : Economic and Social 59 


8th—In production of cotton in pounds per acre- 

Marlboro first with 336; Beaufort last with 90 
pounds per acre. 

18th—In corn production in buseheds per acre- 

Charleston first with 23.6; Barnwell last with 9.5 
bushels. 

15th—In corn raised per capita in bushels- 

Calhoun first, 31.8 bushels; Charleston last, 4.2 
bushels per person. 

13th—In number of bushels increase in corn, 1910-1920 
Anderson first with 577,080. 

9th—In per cent increase in corn production, 1910-1920 
Charleston first with 108.2; Hampton last with 
50.6 per cent. 

16th—In total production of corn in bushels--— 

Orangeburg first with 1,460,318; Jasper last with 
154,526 bushels. 

26th—In bushels of oats raised per capita- 

Saluda first with 10.2; Charleston last with.08 
bushel per person. 

22nd—In production of oats in bushels per acre- 

Marlboro first with 28 bushels; Jasper last with 

8 . 1 . 

27th—In bushels of wheat raised per acre - 

Dillon first with 13; Marlboro last with 1.4 bushels 
per acre. 

26th—In bushels of wheat per capita----—— 

Lexington first, 1.9 bushels. 

j5fh^_In percentage increase of poultry of all kinds, 

1910-1920.---- 

Charleston first with 97.4 per cent; Williamsburg 
last with 24.3 per cent. 

31st—In number of pounds of poultry per person.- 

Saluda first with 15.4 pounds per person; Charles¬ 
ton last with 2.6 pounds. 

24th—In annual pork production in pounds, per capita 
Horry first with 183.3 pounds; York last with 22 
pounds per capita. 

25th—In percentage increase in hogs, 1910-1920- 

Anderson first, 276 per cent; Hampton decreased 
her production 49 per cent, 


288 

16.4 

21.2 

240,015 

62.6 

623,094 

1.7 

17.9 

7.1 

0.2 

50.6 

8.3 

74.6 

73 












60 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


22nd—In value of livestock products per person- $9.67 

Edgefield first with $22.06; Charleston last with 
$1.71. 

21st—In percentage increase in number of cattle, 1910- 

1920. _1_ 24 

Dillon first, 109 per cent. 

15th—In beef production in pounds per capita- 19.6 

Beaufort first with 129.8 pounds; Greenville last 
with 3.6 pounds. 

9th—In hay and forage produced, in tons,- 12,370 

Orangeburg first with 19,775 tons; Jasper last with 

1,835 tons. 

35th—In amount spent in dollars for implements and 

on improved land per acre _ $6.32 

Anderson first with $11.69 spent; Barnwell last 
with $3.84 spent; State average $7.77. 

26th—In percentage of farm tenancy _._ 67.1 

Marlboro first with 85.6 per cent; Beaufort last 
with 14.9 per cent. 

30th—In per cent improved larm land is of the total 

land in farms ___ 47.8 

Barnwell first, 68.4 per cent; Georgetown last with 16.9 
per cent. 

10th—In percentage increase in farm wealth, 1910-1920 177.8 

Georgetown first, 244.5 per cent; Barnwell last 
with 24.7 per cent. 

15th—In percentage of negro farm mortgaged, 1910_ 19.3 

Beaufort least with 1.4 per cent; Edgefield most 
with 48.5 per cent. 

20th—In per cent mortgaged farms are of all farms in 

county _ 7.1 

Oconee most with 14.7 per cent; Marlboro least 
with 2.6 per cent. 

30th—In number of farms ...3,663 

Anderson has the largest number, 8,910; Jasper 
the least number, 1,281. 

22nd—In number of settlers needed _:_ 5,835 

Horry first, needing 18,982 new settlers; Allen¬ 
dale last, needing 256; Kershaw County has 
87,523 acres of idle land. 









/ 

Kershaw County : Economic and Social 61 

Size of Farms in Kershaw County as Classified by the U. S. Cen¬ 
sus of 1920. 

Under 3 acres _ 6 

3 to 9 acres ___ 55 

10 to 19 acres __ 512 

20 to 49 acres _1,757 

50 to 99 acres _ 653 

100 to 174 acres . 392 

175 to 259 acres _ 130 

260 to 499 acres _ 105 

500 to 999 acres _ 39 

1,000 acres and over _ 15 

























VII. 


BALANCE SHEET IN FOOD AND FEED PRODUCTION 


J. Louie Moseley. 


It is a lamentable fact that few people know how small a per 
cent of the food and feed consumed in Kershaw County is pro¬ 
duced at home. Every year millions of dollars leave the county 
to buy food and feed that could easily be raised more cheaply 
here on our own farms. The facts and figures given in the fol¬ 
lowing paragraphs try to show the people, especially the farmers, 
in what, and why we are deficient in so many principal staple 
food and feed commodities. The tables show the deficit in all 
the important food and feed crops. 

Kershaw County’s Food and Feed Shortage 

According to data derived largely from the 1920 Census, Ker¬ 
shaw County produced in 1919 food and feed valued at $2,749,425. 
In the same year food and feed valued at $5,595,759.87 was con¬ 
sumed, leaving a deficit of $2,846,334.87 of home raised food and 
feed. The value of our cotton and other non-food crops for the 
same year was $6,076,027. The value of our food and feed crop 
was only 31 per cent of the total crop value of the county. When 
we consider that Kershaw County is almost wholly an agricultural 
county, that most of its people live in the rural districts and are 
supported by the products of the soil, this fact becomes more 
appalling. 

Cotton is for our county, as for all the counties of the state, her 
chief and practically only money crop. It is not our intention to 
persuade the reader that cotton should be entirely supplanted by 
some other crop. However, we wish to impress the fact that 
cotton and only cotton, is not profitable in the long run. Conse¬ 
quently, it should be planted not as the only money crop, but as 
one among several. 

The food shortage shown at the end of the chapter represents 
only the shortage in the necessary staple article of food that can 
and should be raised at home. If the cost of dainties and other 
imported articles was added our food bill would be greatly in- 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 63 


creased. They do not come into our discussion here because we 
are only trying to show that we fail to take advantage of our 
position in a county with the soil and climatic resources that are 
ours. 

The Shortage in Detail 

According to statistics taken from the 1920 government report 
we find that the total meat production was 2,955,320 pounds while 
the consumption, in the county, of meat was 4,468,496 pounds, or 
a deficit of 1,513,176 pounds. 

In 1920 our corn consumption, estimated at 31 bushels per per¬ 
son for human beings and live stock, was 911,338 bushels. The 
total production was 681,670 bushels, or 23 bushels per person, 
or a deficit of 8 bushels. 

Our butter deficit was 1,190,082 pounds. We produced only 
220,926 pounds of butter. 

Estimated at 17*4 dozen eggs consumed per person, we had a 
deficit of 324,032 dozens of eggs, producing 190,453 dozens against 
a consumption of 514,485 dozens. 

Our consumption of wheat in 1920, estimated at 4 bushels per 
capita, was 117,592 bushels. We raised 49,776 bushels, with a 
deficit of 67,816 bushels. 


Causes of Shortage 

There are so many different causes for our shortage of food 
and feed crops, it would take more space than we have to discuss 
all of them. Among the chief causes are: (1) the one-crop sys¬ 
tem of farming, common all over the South; (2) lack of a ready 
market for food and feed products; and (3) excessive farm ten¬ 
ancy. 

The evil of the one-crop system is recognized by all well known 
agricultural economists. By raising only cotton the farmer has 
but a limited period of income. It is hard to secure credit on an 
uncertain crop of cotton when the loan must run from eight to 
nine months before repayment. The cotton farmer must gen¬ 
erally borrow in order to finance his crop, i. e. to buy fertilizers, 
equipment, and supplies. 

Crop rotation is needed in Kershaw County. When cotton is 
planted on the same land from year to year the returns diminish 
because of the decreased fertility of the soil. The primary rea¬ 
sons why cotton soils become poor are: the gradual decline in the 
organic content of the soil, the leaching and erosion during the 
winter months, the poor physical condition of the soil, all of which 


64 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


result from the continuous cultivation of cotton. Rotation and 
diversification of crops would remedy this state of affairs. The 
non-food crops of Kershaw were 73 per cent of the total value of 
all the crops produced in 1920. Practically all of the 73 per cent 
was in cotton, as we raise no tobacco worthy of mention. 

Why have we no ready market for food and feed products? The 
real reason is that, we in the past have not realized the need of 
raising our own food. We have always depended on cotton and 
sometimes tobacco to furnish the money to buy the actual neces¬ 
sities. Therefore, we have not produced enough to warrant the 
growth of a market. The farmer may grow an excess one year, 
but because he cannot sell profitably, he is careful not to do so 
again. Instead, he plants cotton. There is but one remedy for 
our lack of a market; that is, create one. It takes time, work, 
patience, and cooperation, to do that. Cooperative marketing and 
the local market problem will be taken up in subsequent para¬ 
graphs. 

Of the farms of Kershaw County in 1920, 67.1 per cent were 
operated by tenants. The state average of farm tenancy was 64.5. 
It is seen that we have a higher per cent than the state average. 

There are only two other states that have a greater percentage 
of tenancy than South Carolina: Georgia has 66.6 per cent and 
Mississippi 66.1. 

Farm tenancy has increased in the State since 1910. According 
to the census of that year, tenants constituted 63 per cent of the 
farming classes, indicating an increase of 1.5 per cent in the last 
decade. Usually the tenant must pay his rent in cash, cotton or 
tobacco. If he must pay cash he must raise something for which 
he can readily receive cash, that is generally cotton. When pro¬ 
duce is paid as rent the landlord requires cotton. As long as this 
system of farming and relation between landlord and tenant exists 
we will have a shortage in food and feed. 

Ignorance and illiteracy result from continued tenancy. Fam¬ 
ilies which move from farm to farm, living but a year or two at 
each place, do not tend to make good citizens. The sense of 
ownership breeds in people qualities of self-respect that make 
them stable elements in the community, and greater social fac¬ 
tors that help in the development of any community, county, 
state, or nation. 

Community or cooperative spirit which is necessary for any 
group of people to advance in education, culture and general well¬ 
being, is lacking where we have a too large number of tenants. 
One of the surest ways to change the white tenant farmers into 
landowners is to educate their children. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


65 


The Local Marketing Problem 

There are five general ways in which a farmer can market his 
products, as follows: 

(1.) By direct sale to consumers; (a) by going direct to resi¬ 
dence; (b) through public or municipal markets; (c) by parcel 
post or express; and (d) to local manufacturers. 

(2.) By selling to local stores; (3)‘ by shipping direct to dealers 
in large cities; (4) by selling to a local buyer; and (5), by ship¬ 
ping through a cooperative association. 

In the small towns it is common for farmers to sell direct to 
consumers by delivering goods to the residences. Farm made 
butter is sold in this way by farmers’ wives and (laughters. 
Many other products, as chickens, eggs, and vegetables, are sold 
in the same manner. This is done only in the small towns where 
there is not enough business to justify the establishment of a reg¬ 
ular market place. In the larger towns and cities, it is better to 
have a municipal market where the actual consumers can go to 
buy. The local stores in many large towns handle most of the 
farm produce consumed. 

There is always need for a local market because the local tran¬ 
saction is the first step from producer to consumer. If the vol¬ 
ume of trade warrants it, the wholesale dealer in large cities is 
likely to send his agents into the local market. 

The products must be standardized in order to realize a correct 
price for any article. In the sale of potatoes and fruits, if they 
are graded and each grade priced, a much better profit can be re¬ 
alized for the whole. The ones not fit for sale can then be used 
for feeding livestock, which is always a good investment. Coop¬ 
eration with the farm and home demonstration agents can do 
much toward standardizing and grading the products tor local 
sale and for shipments to distant points. They can give best 
methods of canning and preserving all kinds of perishable pro¬ 
ducts where there is no canning establishment in the community. 

With the advent of the boll weevil we must begin producing 
other things besides cotton. Dairying should become an indus¬ 
try. The farmer who produces milk or cream for manufacture 
into butter may dispose of his product in three ways; first, he may 
make it into butter on the farm and sell direct to individuals or 
to country stores; second, he may sell to a “centralizer,” as in the 
dairy sections of the nation, either by shipping direct by express 
or through a local cream buyer or “cream station” (centralizers 
derive their name from the fact that they concentrate the cream 
from a wide territory to a central point, where is it made into 


66 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


butter in factories); and third, he may haul it in the form of milk 
or cream to a local creamery, which may be either privately or 
cooperatively owned. The ideal system of butter making is un¬ 
doubtedly through the local creamery, but the centralizer offers 
an invaluable market to those localities where dairying has not 
developed sufficiently to make it possible to maintain a creamery. 

Livestock can best b^ marketed through a cooperative shipping 
association and the net price received for stock by farmers is or¬ 
dinarily increased appreciably through such an organization. 

The problem of obtaining a cash market for home raised pro¬ 
ducts at all times is a big one. Nothing can be accomplished ex¬ 
cept through the hearty cooperation of our farmers, business men, 
and the consuming public as a whole. 

Cooperative Marketing 

Millions of dollars have been lost to the Southern .cotton grow¬ 
ers by poor methods of marketing and many millions more will 
doubtless be lost before our farmers adopt the cooperative rem¬ 
edies necessary to bring about a change. Three great needs are: 

(1). Proper housing of the crop so as to prevent damage to 
quality of lint; (2) Plans to prevent the depression of prices by the 
“distressed cotton” of the early fall, that is, the selling of cotton 
as fast as it is picked, and (3) plans which will enable farmers to 
get the benefit of grades above middling. 

The South Carolina Cotton Growers’ Cooperative Association 
organized in 1921 has for its object the fulfillment of the needs 
stated above. They plan to (1) grade, class, staple, and weigh, 
each bale; (2) warehouse and store cotton wherever and when¬ 
ever necessary; (3) sell its cotton in even running lots, each 
grade, class, and staple within its own pool; (4) sell on its own 
sample and warehouse certificate; (5) sell collectively and only 
when the market demands it; (6) sell as directly as possible; (7) 
determine the cost of production of cotton; and (8) encourage 
and develop the cooperative production of uniform and standard 
varieties by communities. 

Enough cotton has been turned over to the association to make 
it a working organization. It is reported that 95,000 bales have 
been delivered at this date by South Carolina farmers. 

In the production and marketing of vegetables, fruit, etc., we 
are behind most of the other states. The Cooperative Fruit 
Growers’ Association of California is functioning successfully and 
has been the means of saving the growers of that state many 
millions of dollars every year. If it can be done in California, 
why not in South Carolina? 


Kershaw County: Economic and Social 67 

One of the greatest causes for the failure of cooperative enter¬ 
prises, is largely inefficient management. Farmers are loath to 
pay high enough salaries to £et competent and experienced man¬ 
agers. 

The Tobacco Growers’ Cooperative Association, comprising the 
states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, was or¬ 
ganized in 1920, and is worked on the same plan as the cotton 
growers’ association. They grade the farmers’ tobacco, handle 
and redry it whenever necessary. The organization is a splendid 
success proved by the large increase in the price of tobacco. Mr. 
Bright Williamson of Darlington, South Carolina, says: “In the 
face of a very much larger crop, tobacco in South Carolina has 
brought about double the price it brought last year (1921). With 
all other conditions practically the same, the advance in the price 
of tobacco, or a large portion of it, can reasonably be credited 
to the work of the Association in one way or another.” 

Our food and feed products can be sold advantageously by co¬ 
operation as shown by the success of the associations mentioned, 
and the South Carolina Sweet Potato Growers’ Association which 
has been highly successful during the last two years. 

The Boll Weevil Problem 

The advent of the boll weevil in South Carolina has brought a 
great problem before us. To a county like ours, which has had 
one crop, cotton, for so many years as her only money crop, this 
loss in the yield is going to hurt economically. We must either 
have better methods of destroying the insect before it can do 
much damage, or we must begin the cultivation of other crops and 
livestock raising. 

The amount of livestock in Kershaw County is shown in detail 
in the table of livestock units at the end of this chapter. A 
lightly stocked farm area means one animal unit for every five 
acres of land in farms. An animal unit consists of either one 
horse, one milch cow, two beef cattle, five hogs, seven sheep, or 
one hundred fowls. For our county to be on a lightly stocked 
basis we need 52,697 animal units, while only 12,985 units are 
found. In other words, our farmers are supporting only about 
25 per cent of the number of live stock they should under a bal¬ 
anced system of farming. 

South Carolina should be almost, if not wholly self sufficing. 
The logical plan, it seems, to reach this condition, would be stock 
and cattle raising and more food and feed crops. In many of the 
Northern States dairying and stock breeding is engaged in very 


68 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


successfully. If it can be done there with the colder climate, cer¬ 
tainly we can do so more profitably with our mild climate. The 
stock here need less shelter, and their food can be grown prac¬ 
tically the whole year round; while the people of New York and 
surrounding states have but a few months in which to produce 
their stock food. 

According to statements from the best cotton authorities, “for 
the last 40 years farmers have not been selling their cotton at the 
price it costs to produce it and not until 1916-1920 have any profits 
been made. It is a well known fact that since 1920 almost no 
profit has been made. 

So with such an outlook why should our farmers persist in 
raising a ready money crop when a plan of raising money crops 
and food crops would yield a larger income and make our coun¬ 
ty a self-feeding one. 

The appearance of the boll weevil has made Unnecessary for a 
change. The people of Kershaw can turn a seeming misfortune 
into a blessing if they so wish. The problem is before us and 
must be solved. Our future economic condition depends on how 
it is treated. 

It is a well recognized fact that the preferred farm loan field 
is one where diversified or mixed farming is the rule. “One- 
crop” farming is unsatisfactory; it not only reduces the fertility 
of the soil, but worse than that, it makes of the farmer a specu¬ 
lator, slating everything as one crop, hard put to it to make ends 
meet if the crop is poor or a failure. The lender to a “one-crop” 
farmer lends to a speculator and takes a speculator’s chance as to 
the prompt meeting of the obligation. 

Take Texas as an illustration: “Texas debtor farmers,” says an 
official bulletin from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of 
that State, have been paying to banks ten to forty per cent inter¬ 
est per annum, or to credit merchants 10 to 60 per <;ent above 
cash prices. This credit system, either as cause or effect uni¬ 
formly prevails with all-cotton farming, or all-wheat farming or 
any other form of one-crop farming. 

As the farming becomes more diversified, especially where live¬ 
stock is raised extensively, credit conditions on short-time loans 
become better. 

The banks of Kershaw County can do much to bring about more 
diversified farming in the county by requiring that the farmer, to 
whom they lend money, plant several different crops in a better 
proportion than done now, and encourage the raising of stock. 
That would enable them to secure more prompt repayment of 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 69 


loans and lend at a lower rate of interest, thereby benefiting both 
the farmer and the bankers and merchants. 

A few years of diversified farming in South Carolina would 
make the agriculture of the state a self-sufficing one. The farmer 
could become independent; the merchant could carry on a cash 
business; and the banks could give their attention to the devel¬ 
opment of the county instead of to feeding it. The large amount 
of money sent to other states every year to purchase food could 
then be kept at home. 

Facts About Food and Feed Production in Kershaw County 

The following facts and comparisons show how Kershaw 
County ranks among the other counties in the production of the 
principal articles of food and feed. 

15th—In per capita corn production, bushels- 21.2 

Charleston County comes last with a production 
of 4.2 bushels per person. For our food and feed 
for livestock, we need 31 bushels per person; we 
have a per capita shortage of 9.8 bushels, or a 


total deficit of 288,100 bushels of corn. 

18th—In corn production in bushels per acre- 16.4 

Charleston County ranks first with a per acre 
production of 23.6 bushels. The State average 
was 15 bushels per acre. 

19th—In total corn production, bushels - 623,094 


Kershaw County production in 1920 shows an 
increase of 240,015 bushels of corn over 1910, an 
increase of 62.6 per cent. Orangeburg County 
produced most, 1,460,318 bushels; Jasper County 
least with a yield of 154,526 bushels. The aver¬ 
age county production in the State was 397,218 
bushels. 

27th—In wheat produced per acre, bushels-- 

Dillon County ranks first with a per acre yield 
of 13 bushels; Jasper and Berkeley Counties pro¬ 
duce no wheat. The State average was 7.4 

bushels. 

26th—In per capita wheat production, bushels- 

There are eight other counties with a per capita 
yield of .2 bushels. The State average was only 
.37 bushels per person; Lexington County lead 
with 1 bushel produced per person. 









TO 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


22nd—In production of oats per acre, bushels--—: 17.9 

The State average was 18.3 bushels. Marlboro 
County was first with 28 bushels per acre; Jasper 
County was last with 8.1 bushels per acre. 

26th—In oat production, per capita, bushels_1.7 

Saluda County first with 10.2 bushels per person; 

Charleston County last .with .08 bushels produced 
per capita. 

3th—In total hay and forage produced, tons... 12,730 

Only 400,343 tons of hay and forage were pro¬ 
duced in the State. Orangeburg led with 19,775 
tons produced; Jasper County produced least, 

1,835 tons. 

15th—In beef production per person, pounds......:_ 19.6 

State average 17.8 pounds; Beaufort County leads 
with 129.8 pounds per person; Greenville County 
came last with 3.6 pounds per capita; Kershaw 
County increased her number of cattle 24 per 
cent from 1910-1920. 

24th—In pork production per capita, pounds__ 74.6 

The State average is 67 pounds per person; Hor¬ 
ry County ranked first producing 183.3 pounds 
per person; York County produced least, 22 
pounds for each person. 

Including both beef and pork, Kershaw County 
had a deficit of 51.5 pounds of meat per person. 

The county increased her hog production 73 per 
cent from 1910-1920. 

31st—In number pounds poultry produced per person, 8.3 

• Saluda led with a production of 15.4 pounds per 
person; Charleston County produced least, 26 
pounds. 

From 1910-1920 Kershaw County increased her 
production of poultry, of all kinds, 50.6 ranking 
15th in this respect. 

32nd—In egg deficit per person, dozens, 1920... 11 

Needed 17.5 dozens eggs for every person, our 
shortage was 6.5 dozens per capita. Total short¬ 
age for the county was 324,032 dozens; total pro¬ 
duction 190,453 dozen. 

Lexington County had a deficit of only 2.6 
dozens per person. 









Kershaw County : Economic and Social 71 

21st—In butter produced per person, pounds_ 7.5 

State average was 8.2 pounds per person; Abbe¬ 
ville County produced most, 17 pounds; Charles¬ 
ton County least, 1 pound per capita. Needed 48 
pounds for every person; deficit 42.5 pounds. 

Total deficit 1,249,415 pounds. 

22nd—In value of livestock produced per capita_ 9.67 

Edgefield County ranked first with $22.06 per cap¬ 
ita; Charleston County came last, producing $1.71 
worth of livestock for every person. 

Kershaw County Balance Sheet in Food and Feed Production 


1. Food and Feed needed: 

29,398 people @ $161.28_$4,741,309.44 

5,666 work animals @ $75.75_ 429,199.50 

6,784 dairy cattle @ $35.67___ 241,985.28 

2,119 other cattle @ $15.55___ 32,950.45 

366 sheep @* $3.44 _ 1,259.04 

14,724 swine @ $12.84 _ 189.056.16 


Total food and Feed needed..--,- $5,635,759.87 

2. Total Food and Feed produced: 

Food and feed crops - $2,177,495.00 

Dairy products _ 114,896.00 

Poultry and poultry products - 168,484.00 

Honey and wax - 1,437.00 

Total value of beef cattle and swine.— 287,111.00 


Total food .and feed produced ...-- $2,749,423.00 

Shortage in home raised food and feed $2,846,334.87 

Cotton and other non-food crop values $6,076,027.00 


Distribution of Food and Feed shortage: 

1. Meat needed for 29,398 people @ 152 pounds per 

person _ ,......^ CT —— - 4,468,496.00 


Meat produced: 

950 calves @ 150 pounds... 
1,072 cattle @ 350 pounds ... 
98,897 poultry @ 3 Y 2 pounds 
13,053 swine @ 160 pounds. 


145.500 

375,200 

346,140 

2,088,480 


Total meat produced 
S h 0 r t a ge , W7r .,., 


2,955,320.00 

1,513,176 



































72 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


2. Butter needed for 29,398 people @ 48 pounds per 


person _ 1,411,008 

Produced _ 220,926 


Deficit _ 1,190,082 

3. Fowls needed for 29,398 people @ 12 fowls 

per person ___ 352,776 

Produced __— 69,444 


Deficit __ 283,332 

4. Eggs need for 29,398 people @ 17^4 dozen 

per person _ 514,485 

Produced ___ 190,453 


Deficit _ 324,032 

5. Corn needed for 29,398 people @ 31 bushels 

per person_„ 911,338 

Produced _ 1 _ 681,670 


Deficit _ 229,668 

6. Wheat needed for 29,398 people @ 4 bushels per 

person _’____ 117,592 

Produced _ 49,776 


Deficit _ 67,816 

7. Hay needed for 5,666 work animals @ 10 pounds 

per day—tons _ 10,340 

For 1,072 cattle @ 6 pounds per day.. 1,174 

For 6,784 dairy cattle @ 6 pounds per day__ 7,429 

For 366 sheep @ 3 pounds per day _ 8,803 


19,143 

Produced - 12,730 


Deficit - 6,413 


Kershaw County Livestock: 1920 Census 


1 . 


Animal Units on Hand 1919..™,. 

5,564 mature work animals . 

25 spring colts )l-4)'._ 

52 yearling colts (1-2) _ r . 

3,786 dairy cows 


Animal Units 

_ 5,564 

- 6 

- 26 

- 3,786 























































73 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


1,072 other cattle (1-2) _...... 536 

8,556 swine (1-5) ___ 1,711 

6,168 pigs (1-10) _ 617 

260 sheep (1-7) _ 37 

106 lambs )1-14) . 8 

69,444 poultry (1-100) _ 694 


Total animal units ___ 12,985 

2. Animal Units needed—263,486 acres divided by 5~....:...„. 52,697 

Percent of units on hand is of units necessary to 

stock county on a lightly stocked basis__ 25 

Below the lightly stocked level, per cent_ 75 


Note.—A lightly stocked farm area means one animal unit for 
every 5 acres of farm lands. A unit is a horse, a cow, 2 colts, 5 
hogs, 7 sheep, or 100 hens. 




















VIII. 


EVIDENCES OF PROGRESS 


George H. Wittkowsky. 


In other chapters of this bulletin we have pursued a critical 
method. In this chapter we aim to emphasize the bright spots 
in the life of our county and show wherein progress has been 
made. There are a number of developments which have come 
about recently in Kershaw County which should be a source of 
pride and optimism to our people. 

Schools 

A glance at the table dealing with “Ten Year Gains” under the 
chapter on “Schools,” indicates rapid strides in our educational 
system. Among the most significant items are the 157 per cent 
increase in total expenditures, the 129 per cent increase in the 
amount expended for teachers’ salaries and the 75 per cent in¬ 
crease in total enrollment. These figures should be encouraging. 

It is reassuring to note that our school system is progressing. 
We trust that the people of our county will see to it that this pro¬ 
cess of improvement is continued. 

Camden Public School System 

There is probably no branch of civic activity in the county in 
which there has been made as much progress within the last few 
years than has been made in the school system of Camden. Mr. 
Richard Simpson did much to raise the standard as measured by 
the unit system. But to Prof. J. Gardner Richards, Jr., is due 
most of the credit for the phenomenal development which we have 
witnessed since he took charge in September, 1917. 

For the school year 1911-1912, the tax levy for school district 
number one was 4^4 mills. The revenue raised thereby amounted 
to $13,460.45. The amount of expenditures was $12,097.45. Ten 
years later, for the school session 1921-1922, the tax levy was 21 
mills. The revenue derived and the expenditures both amounted 
to $47,490. In addition to this sum, a bond issue was floated to 
the amount of $160,000 for building purposes. 






Kershaw County : Economic and Social 75 

The total number of pupils, white and colored, enrolled in the 
city schools for the school year 1911-1912 was 776. The number 
for 1922-1923 was 1,339. 

The average salary for female grade teachers in 1912 was $407.81. 
For male grade teachers the average was $675. For female high 
school teachers the average was $450. For male teachers in the 
high school it was $750. In 1922 the average salary for female 
grade teachers was $011.25; and for male grade teachers $900. 
For high school female teachers, the average salary was $1,012.50. 
The only male teacher in the high school was the principal who 
received $1,200. There are now in the white schools of Camden 
two teachers for every grade through the tenth. In the words of 
Prof. Richards, “No one is employed in the schools who has not 
a diploma from one of the foremost colleges or who has proved 
ability from a long service in the Camden Schools.” 

In 1921 the Camden High School was rated with 12 standard 
Carnegie Units. For 1922 it was credited with 19.4 units. 

In 1922, the new grammar school building was opened for use. 
This is an up-to-date building containing 15 standard-sized class 
rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of about 800. 

A new mill school, containing six class rooms has also been 
erected recently. In addition, improvements have been made on 
the Jackson School. 

This record of progress is one of which we should be justly 
proud. The Camden School system, in its present status, is ac¬ 
complishing great things for Camden as well as for the outlying 
territory. 

Browning Home and Mather Academy 

The Browning Home and Mather Academy is doing good work 
for the cause of negro education in Kershaw County and deserves 
mention in a bulletin of this nature. This institution is supported 
by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, an organization whose headquarters are located 
at Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to this support, the pupils pay 
a small tuition fee. 

Miss Leola B. Warburton is Principal of this institution. There 
were about 350 pupils registered for the 1922-1923 session. These 
were 75 more pupils than were registered for the preceding session. 

There are eleven teachers on the faculty, six being residents of 
the Home. 

In the words of Miss Warburton, the Principal: “Our chief aim 
is to train our pupils to become men and women of strong char¬ 
acter and to fit them for service in the world. Many of our grad¬ 
uates are teaching in the State. Five are teaching in Mather.” 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


7f> 

The Browning Home is an excellent institution and deserves 
the hearty approval and cooperation of the citizens of Camden 
and of Kershaw County. 

Camden Library 

One of Camden’s most valuable institutions is the Public Libra¬ 
ry. It contains a good collection of books and is an excellent in¬ 
fluence in the life of the town. The following has been prepared 
for us by one of its officers: 

“The ‘Camden Public Library was organized about twenty-five 
years ago with the late Dr. Pate as President, and L. A. Witt- 
kowsky, Secretary and Treasurer. The library succeeded very 
well for a number of years until about thirteen years ago when 
the building was entirely destroyed by fire. Around three thous¬ 
and volumes were lost. 

The Library Association was reestablished and ran on by sub¬ 
scription for two years longer. 

In 1915 largely through the instrumentality of Mrs. E. C. Von 
Tresckow a subscription of $5,000 was given to put up the present 
library building by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the 
City Council of Camden giving some assistance, and allowing the 
building to be put in the central park of the city. The Library 
Association was chartered with Mrs. E. C. VonTresckow, Pres¬ 
ident, Mr. L. T. Mills, Vice-President, Mr. L. A. Wittkowsky, 
Treasurer, Mr. T. K. Trotter, Secretary, and Miss Louise Nettles, 
Librarian. The present library is a free library and its steady 
growth and usefulness have caused it to be numbered among the 
city’s assets. More than five hundred families read through the 
Library'and it is quite attractive for the strangers who visit Cam¬ 
den during the tourist season. The library has thirty-five hun¬ 
dred volumes, including many valuable books. The present offi¬ 
cers are President, Mr. W. .J. Dunn; Vice-President, Mr. L. T. 
Mills; Treasurer, Mr. L. A. Wittkowsky, and Secretary and Libra¬ 
rian, Miss Louise Nettles. The value of the building is $6,000. 
The value of the books is $7,000. 

Wealth 

The figures relative to the increase in wealth in South Carolina 
for the ten-year period extending from 1910 to 1920 are indeed en¬ 
couraging. In 1910, the value of the real property in Kershaw 
County was $10,640,980. In 1920 it had increased to $14,212,480. 
This amounts to an increase of 33.8 per cent. The value of the 
personal property jumped from $5,548,820 in 1910 to $15,085,576 in 


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Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


77 


1920. The increase in this particular was 171.87 per cent. The 
total value of property, real and personal, for 1910 was $16,189,800. 
For 1920 it was $29,298,056. This indicates an increase of $13,- 
108,256, or 80.96 per cent. 

Even more encouraging than the above are the figures relative 
to the increase in farm wealth from 1900 until 1920. In 1900, the 
total farm wealth was $2,312,530. In 1910 it was $4,883,495. By 
the year 1920 it had jumped to $13,570,006. From these figures 
it may be seen that the farm wealth of Kershaw County increased 
487 per cent during the period from 1900 to 1920, and 17 per cent 
from 1910 to 1920. 

The statements of the banks of the county also indicate an in¬ 
crease in prosperity. The total banking resources of Kershaw 
County increased from $1,389,949.64 in 1914 to $3,312,352.23 in 
1922. This is equivalent to an increase of 138 per cent. 

Agriculture 

As Kershaw is primarily an agricultural county, the progress of 
our people is determined largely by farm conditions. It is reas¬ 
suring to note that between the years 1909 and 1919 the farm 
wealth of our county increased 178 per cent. During the same 
period, the number of hogs raised in the county increased 73 per 
cent; the amount of poultry raised grew by 51 per cent; and the 
corn production by 63 per cent. 

The last three items appear to us to be especially significant. 
They indicate a strong tendency on the part of our farmers to get 
away from the one-crop system. One of the gravest defects in 
the economic life of our State is this same tendency to put all of 
our eggs into one basket. These figures indicate that Kershaw 
County farmers are beginning to realize that cottton should not 
be the sole crop on a farm; but that grain and live-stock should 
be included also. This tendency toward the diversification of 
crops is a healthy one and should be encouraged. 

The Camden Hospital 

The establishment of the Camden Hospital was made possible 
by two donations. The first of these was the legacy of Mr. John 
Burdcll which provided a fund for the alleviation of the suffering 
of Kershaw County. The second of these gifts was made by Mr. 
Bernard B. Baruch of New York. The Burdell legacy consists 
of real estate located in Kershaw County. The trustees of this 
fund, since the establishment of the hospital, have been devoting 


78 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


the income to the hospital. This income amounts to between 
four and five thousand dollars annually. 

The hospital building was paid for by Mr. B. M. Baruch. He 
presented the Board of Directors with $40,000 for the purpose of 
erecting such a building in honor of his father, Dr. Simon Baruch. 
Dr. Simon Baruch was at one time a citizen of Camden, where he 
engaged in the practice of medicine. In moving to New York he 
made for himself a distinguished record in that great city. 

The site selected for the hospital is on Fair Street and was for¬ 
merly the location of the Presbyterian Manse. The Presbyterian 
Church sold this property to the Board of Directors of the hos¬ 
pital at a nominal figure. The Manse, which was a large wooden 
building with a basement, two stories and an attic was converted 
into the administration building of the hospital after having been 
veneered with brick. In this building was also located the private 
rooms for patients. The hospital equipment was furnished by the 
people of Kershaw County. The total cost of the original plant 
and equipment was approximately $50,000. 

Dr. Simon Baruch was greatly interested in the hospital project 
and was present at its formal opening which took place on the 13th 
of December, 1913. The officers of the hospital at that time were 
Wm. Shannon, President; Dr. J. W. Corbett, Vice President; L. 
A. Wittkowsky, Secretary. The Directors were, in addition to 
the officers: Dr. S. C. Zemp, Dr. W. J. Burdell, Rev. J. C. Roman, 
H. G. Carrison, Sr., and W. R. Hough. 

Fire destroyed the front building of the hospital on January 28, 
1921. Mr. Bernard M. Baruch again came to the rescue with an 
additional gift of $25,000. The balance of the fund necessary to 
rebuild the hospital was raised by the citizens of the county and 
by the Northern tourists. The new hospital was formally opened 
in February, 1922. The cost of the new building and equipment 
was approximately $60,000. The present officers of the Camden 
Hospital are: Dr. J. W. Corbett, President; Dr. S. C. Zemp, Vice- 
President; L. A. Wittkowsky, Secretary; W. M. Baruch, Treasurer. 

The other members of the Board of Directors are: W. R. Zemp, 
and R. M. Kennedy, Jr. 

While the Camden Hospital admits pay patients, it is neverthe¬ 
less essentially a charity hospital. It takes patients of all races, 
but does not take those uflFering from certain contagious diseases. 
The hospital is supported by what it receives from pay patients, 
the Burdell Fund, and small annual contributions from the county 
and city. The plant is entirely paid for, but needs an elevator, 
X-ray apparatus, and other equipment. Last year, 1922, the hos¬ 
pital ran in debt for running expenses to the amount of $3,000. 



Kershaw County : Economic and Social 79 


The reason for this was the large number of charity patients taken 
care of. Zj 

Public Health 

Due to the efforts of a number of our public spirited citizens, in¬ 
cluding Mrs. Margaret Miller and Mr. T. K. Trotter, much good 
work in the interest of better health conditions is being done in 
our county. The following account of the county health nurse is 
based on material furnished by Mr. T. K. Trotter. 

The county health nurse service has been in operation in Ker¬ 
shaw County about five years—-for about three years from Red 
Cross funds and for the past two years with the aid of an appropri¬ 
ation from county funds—$1,000 in 1921, and $1,600 in 1922. The 
Red Cross expended $664.29 for its activities which were relief and 
public health nursing from September, 1921, until September, 1922. 

The health nurse must be a graduate nurse, trained in public 
health nursing under the State Health Department standards. 
Her salary is paid out of the appropriation, as also is the upkeep 
of the car. The car itself is furnished by the Red Cross Chapter 
of Camden. Her salary amounts to $125 a month. The nurse 
service is largely instructive: care of babies, tuberculosis, care and 
training, prevention of diseases, care of sick, and home care and 
diet. 

From funds appropriated by the county during the same period, 
$1,337.20 was spent through the Public Health Nursing Association 
which was organized by the Red Cross and which has mainly a 
Red Cross membership, making a total of $2,001.49 for this period. 

Camden and Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce 

The Camden and Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce bids 
fair to be a potent factor in the development of our county as well 
as of the city of Camden. This organization has been in exist¬ 
ence for a number of years, but lately there has been evinced an 
increased interest in it. The scope of the work of the organiza¬ 
tion has been enlarged so that its efforts are now directed towards 
improving the county at large, as well as the City of Camden. 

A good idea of the work and aims of this worthy organization 
may be obtained from the following article, written for us Dy its 
Secretary, Mr. B. G. Sanders: 

“Camden is one of the few cities of South Carolina, if not of the 
South, with a population of less than 5,000 which sustains a full¬ 
time Secretary and office force. At its annual banquet November 
1st last, its membership raised enough money in cash to cover its 


80 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


entire budget for the coming year. Its membership is composed 
of 200 good and live men, who respond promptly to every call of 
its secretary. The 16 directors are divided into Bureaus, Indus¬ 
trial, Civic Improvement and Sanitation, Legislative, Railroad and 
Transportation, Hospitality and Entertainment, Relationship be¬ 
tween City and County, and Membership bureaus, each of whom 
have the “pull together” spirit, which is evidenced by the recent 
accomplishments of the Chamber’s work in securing a large street 
improvement program, and an unlimited supply of current from 
the Palmetto Power and Light Company, which means much to 
the development of our City. Its directors and members are active 
supporters of every progressive movement, such as industrial de¬ 
velopment and city improvement and sanitation, and everything 
else which pertains to the making of a live city.” 

The following is a list of the officers and directors of the Cam¬ 
den and Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce: 

R. H. Harding, President; E. D. Blakeney, Vice President; B. C. 
Sanders, Secretary, and C. P. DuBose, Treasurer. 

Directors: L. C. Shaw, R. B. Pitts, J. B. Zemp, W. R. Zemp, H. 
K. Hallett, Mrs. E. C. Ritchie, Mrs. D. R. Williams, Miss Minnie 
A. Clyburn, M. B. Baruch, J. H. Burns, J. W. Cantey, Sam Karesh, 
David Wolfe, W. F. Nettles, and J. M. Villepigue. 

County Fairs 

A county fair was held in Camden in 1922 on the 1st and 2nd of 
November. This was the first fair held here in some time. It 
seems that the services of the fairs have been supplanted to some 
extent by the Farm Demonstration Agent. However, fairs are 
excellent educational agencies and should not be neglected. 

The fair in Camden was well attended as was the one held in 
Bethune on December 17th. At the Camden Fair the exhibits in¬ 
cluded practically all the usual kinds of exhibits with the excep¬ 
tion of cattle and horses. 

The Community Market 

The Community Market in Camden is a recent development. 
The headquarters of the market are at a convenient place. Every 
Friday the ladies from the rural districts bring in their produce 
and sell it directly to the housewives of Camden. The receipts 
usually amount to about $50 per week. This Community Market 
not only serves the convenience of the seller and buyers, but it is 
also the means of creating a good spirit between the rural and 
urban peoples. 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


81 


Camden Civic League 

The work of the Camden Civic League is an evidence of pro¬ 
gress in our county and certainly deserves mention in this chap¬ 
ter. The efforts of this organization are devoted largely to mak¬ 
ing Camden a cleaner and a more beautiful place. Special charge 
of the trees and shrubbery in the streets and public parks has been 
given them. A Junior Civic League, whose membership has been 
limited to children between the ages of six and twelve years, has 
been organized by the Civic League. It is an excellent idea to 
inculcate into the receptive minds of the children ideals of civic 
virtue and public service. The fruits of the League’s labors may 
be read in the appearance of our city, a community which has 
aptly been termed “Beautiful Camden.” Spacious parks, broad 
and tree-lined streets and attractive homes are of priceless value to 
a community. Camden can hold its own with any town in South 
Carolina in this particular. In fact the beauty of our town is one 
of its most distinctive characteristics—one of the characteristics 
which sets it off from other communities of the same size and give 
it a tone of its own. We hope that the good work of the Civic 
League will be continued. 

The officers of the Camden Civic League are given below: 

President, Mrs. E. C. Ritchie; Vice-President, Mrs. Edwin Mul¬ 
ler; Treasurer, Mrs. R. M- Kennedy, Jr.; Recording Secretary, 
Mrs. H. G. Carrison, Jr.; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John T. 
Mackey. 

Camden a Tourist Resort 

It is but natural that Camden has become one of the leading 
tourist resorts in this part of the country. 

A good climate, a beautiful town, an historical background that 
pervades the atmosphere like a pleasant aroma and convenient 
railroad service, all combine to make Camden an almost ideal 
tourist center. The tourist season lasts from Thanksgiving until 
the first of April. Camden’s three tourist hotels, the Kirkwood, 
the Court Inn, and the Hobkirk, and the tourist boarding houses, 
accommodate about 800 people. They are filled from the last of 
January until the first of April. It has been estimated that about 
3,000 tourists visit Camden in the course of a season. A number 
of outsiders own property here. The estimated value of the realty 
owned by the hotel companies and the winter residents amounts 
to $1,500,000. 


IX. 


•KERSHAW COUNTY PROBLEMS 


George H. Wittkowsky. 


In the preceding chapters, we have attempted to lay before the 
people of our county a number of facts relative to our economic 
and social well-being. This chapter is an effort to emphasize the 
most significant of these facts, to point out the most vital prob¬ 
lems that face our people, and to suggest means by which certain 
defects in our social and economic structure may be remedied. 
We realize the difficulty of this task; for us to lay down methods 
of improvement with an air of finality would be absurd. What 
we say here is merely by way of suggestion. If it is provocative 
of further thought on the subject by citizens of the county, then 
the purpose of this chapter will be served and served well. 

Education 

The first problem for the people of our county to face is that of 
education. Although the index figure shows that our school sys¬ 
tem is slightly better than the average for the State, nevertheless 
there is room for much improvement. 

This proposition of school improvement in our county has four 
aspects—more liberal financial support, better attendance, better 
teachers and, the consolidation on the part of the small schools. 
These four problems are closely related and react on each other. 

Of course the heart of the entire matter is finances. Kershaw 
County is not giving as much per capita to education as are most 
of our sister counties. There are 41 counties in South Carolina 
whose per capita expenditures for the support of schools is higher 
than ours. The average per capita expenditure according to total 
enrollment is $13.93 for the State and only $8.43 for Kershaw 
County. For the United States the average per capita expendi¬ 
ture computed on a basis of attendance is $64.15. It seems that we 
should be able to do better than this. 

The improvement of attendance is largely conditioned on better 
financial support as is the matter of better teachers. We pointed 
out in a previous chapter how the enforcement of the compulsory 
education law is made difficult by the lack of facilities for caring 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 83 


for our school population. The obvious remedy for this situation 
is such financial support as will put our schools in a position to 
handle all children in the county who should be in school. 

Consolidation offers a means by which the smaller and poorer 
districts may reap better returns for the same expenditure. Es¬ 
pecially would the matter of better teachers be improved by con¬ 
solidation. A definite plan leading to consolidation thruout the 
county should be pursued. It would be an excellent thing for the 
County Superintendent of Education to make a survey of the coun¬ 
ty with the end in view of showing just where and how consoli¬ 
dation should be brought about. A campaign of education should 
then be undertaken in order to persuade the people in the weaker 
school districts that such consolidation is the best thing. 

Closely allied with the abov.e is the matter of illiteracy. In 
1920 there were 3,259 illiterates in the county. The only sound 
way to fight this disease is to nip it in the bud, ere it has unfolded 
its noxious petals. This can best be done by enforcing the com¬ 
pulsory school attendance law. 

A County Library 

One of the needs of Kershaw County is a county library. The 
Camden Public Library is an excellent institution of its kind, but 
its good work is limited to Camden. There should be established 
thruout the county sub-stations by means of which books and 
magazines could be made accessible to the rural population. A 
supply of books could be sent out from a central station and 
changed at regular intervals. This plan has been tried in New 
Jersey with considerable success. 

The importance of good books cannot be over-emphasized. 
Carlyle once said, “The University of today is a collection of 
books.” The reading of good literature raises the moral and in¬ 
tellectual standard of a people as does few other agencies. Some¬ 
one has estimated that the readers of books and magazines rep¬ 
resent only 5 per cent of a community’s population. Steps should 
be taken in Kershaw County to better this estimated percentage. 
A reading people is a thinking people and a community containing 
a number of thinkers is usually a good community to live in. 

Farm Tenancy 

This problem has been discussed in the chapter on “Wealth and 
Taxation.” It is our purpose in this section to suggest possible 
means of ameliorating the undesirable condition which exists in 

regard to farm tenancy. 


84 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


One of the chief causes of farm tenancy and kindred evils is 
lack of education. Education and prosperity go hand in hand. 
The fact that the wealthy states of this Union, such as Massachu¬ 
setts and New York, have excellent educational systems is no ac¬ 
cident. Of course good school systems are made possible by 
wealth. It is equally true that education is one of the most potent 
factors in the creation of wealth. So we see that the problems 
of farm tenancy and education are closely allied. 

But some definite steps should be made to reduce farm tenancy 
to a minimum. Means should be provided whereby it would be 
made easier for a man to elevate himself from the tenant class to 
the owner class. It seems to us that an organization patterned 
along the lines of a Building and Loan Association would help 
greatly. We see no reason why an organization designed to help 
people own farms would not be as practicable as one whose ob¬ 
ject is to enable families to own homes. 

This problem has been ably discussed in the University Weekly 
News in an article on “Farm Tenancy in South Carolina.” From 
this article we quote from the following: 

“To make every tenant farmer a land-owning farmer would not 
be desirable, even tho it were practicable. There are many, par¬ 
ticularly in the case of the negro, who thrive better as share- 
tenants and croppers under the close supervision of their landlord 
than they would were they their own bosses, and it is better for 
the economic well-being of the community that they remain so. 

“However,' for the thrifty young white man, there should be no 
barrier placed in his way to speedy ownership of his own farm and 
home. The sense of this ownership will breed in him qualities 
of self-respect that make him a stable element in the community, 
a greater social factor in his neighborhood, a center of wealth 
production and retention, and one whose interests encompass the 
development of the neighborhood, community, county, state and 
nation. A study of various aspects of farm tenancy in a typical 
up-country community, made a little more than a year ago shows 
that the young fellow who starts out working hard, living within 
his income and saving all he can, is the one who steps out of the 
tenant class into the owner group. There are no insuperable bar¬ 
riers to ownership as yet, except those of rank misfortune, in a 
state where 50.2 per cent of our farm lands are lying idle. The 
principal obstacles in the way of ownership in South Carolina are 
a lack of ideals of ownership, and a great deal of ignorance, indo¬ 
lence, and thriftlessness,” 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 85 


County Health 

The health of the people of our county is a problem which should 
claim our attention. In the preceding chapter we discussed the 
work of the county nurse service and the Camden Hospital. It 
may be seen from these sections that much good work is being 
done in Kershaw County in the interest of better health conditions. 
However, there is a great deal more which might be done. 

The establishment of a county board of health, consisting of 
competent men and women, would be a step in the right direction. 
Another measure which should be taken is the creation of a tuber¬ 
culosis camp. The ravages of this great white terror thruout our 
nation are as appalling as they are needless. Science tells us that 
tuberculosis is not, as popular opinion would have us believe, in¬ 
curable. It has been demonstrated that fresh air, good food and 
proper medical attention are effective in curing this disease if the 
patient is not too far gone when the treatment is commenced. 
The camp in Richland County lacks the facilities for caring for 
any considerable portion of those people in our State who need 
such care. Therefore, it is highly advisable that each county have 
its own camp. Our neighboring county, Sumter, has established 
such a camp and much good work has been done thereby. Such 
a camp would fill a sorely felt need in the life of our people and 
would be the source of incalculable comfort to many of the fam¬ 
ilies in the county. 


Taxation 

Altho this problem was discussed under the chapter on “Wealth 
and Taxation,” nevertheless we think its importance warrants fur¬ 
ther attention. As has been pointed out this is a state problem 
and should be dealt with as such. But this does not mean that 
the people of our county should not study and discuss it. No 
further improvement will be made in our tax system unless the 
voters of this and other counties of the State send to the Legis¬ 
lature men who are able and willing to work out a better method 
of collecting money. The platforms of the candidates for the 
House and Senate should be closely scanned with this end in 
view. We have had enough slush in our State about low revenues. 
What we need is not lower taxes, but a more equitable and scien¬ 
tific distribution of the burden. As far as the per capita assess¬ 
ment is concerned our taxes are too low. The fault lies in the fact 
that the burden falls too heavily on some, while others are allowed 
to avoid their just share. 


86 Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


County Government 

The people of our county very wisely decided to place the roads 
of our county in the hands of a trained man, appointed by a board 
and not elected by the people. We believe they would do well to 
make a similar change in the method of choosing a Superintend¬ 
ent of Education. The nature of this position is such that it is 
difficult for the people to know a man well enough to insure the 
office being well filled. Ability, training and experience rather 
than popularity should be the basis of selection. We say this with 
no intention of reflecting unfavorably on the present holder of this 
office. It is quite possible that under an appointive system he 
would be selected to fill the position. But students of the prob¬ 
lem agree that this office should be taken out of politics as much 
as possible and made appointive rather than elective. 

The same holds true for the office of magistrate. While some 
good magistrates are secured by the present method, neverthe¬ 
less the magistrates of the State are, as a whole, not up to a high 
standard. This is especially true in the rural sections. The result 
is that the ends of justice are not served in all the magistrates’ 
courts as they should be served. The practice of electing judicial 
officers is an unwise one. Popularity in the election of judicial 
functions is liable to creep in. We don’t elect our circuit and 
supreme court judges by popular vote. Why use this method to 
select other judicial officers? 

The fee system in another which calls for attention. Under this 
system there is no means of estimating what a county officer is 
receiving. The result is that some are underpaid, while others 
receive more than their share. The most scientific method would 
be the payment of a flat salary. 

An Ill-Balanced Farm System 

In total wealth our county ranks 21st in the State. We believe 
our prosperity would be greatly increased if the farmers of our 
county were to follow the methods of diversified agriculture. Our 
section of the country is a slave to the one-crop system. In 1919 
Kershaw County produced food and feed of the value of $2,749,- 
425. The consumption of food and feed for the same year 
amounted to $5,595,759.87. This means that our people spent 
$2,846,334.87 out of the county to purchase food and feed. There 
is no excuse for this drain on our financial resources. Our soil 
will raise almost any kind of food and feed. It is as unnecessary 
as it is uneconomical for our farmers to devote all their energies 
to the raising of one crop. There are a number of advantages to 




Kershaw County : Economic and Social 87 

rotation of crops. The problem has been ably discussed by War¬ 
ren in his book on “Farm Management.” From this work we 
quote the following: 

“There are many reasons why crop rotation is a good thing. 
The final factor that forces farmers to change crops is usually 
either weeds, insects or diseases. Crop rotation (l) 1 helps to con¬ 
trol these enemies; (2) may provide for keeping up the humus 
supply of the soil; (3) may provide for the growth of grass and 
legumes on each field; (4) often saves labor; (5) may keep the 
land occupied with crops a greater part of the time; (6) allows for 
the alternation of deep and shallow-rooted crops; (7) may provide 
for a balanced removal of plant food; (8) may control toxic sub¬ 
stances; (9) systematized farming.” 

The assertion that the one-crop system does not pay is not 
merely idle talk and theory. The truth of the statement has been 
proven. In this connection we quote the following article from 
the Literary Digest of March, 1922: 

“The richest sections of the country are not those that depend 
on a single crop such as wheat or cotton. Specialized crops, such 
as fruit, tobacco, or even potatoes and the dairy and poultry in¬ 
dustries, figure very largely in the counties where agricultural 
wealth is greatest. Census figures, on which these statements are 
based, bear out the wisdom of campaigns to bring out diversified 
agriculture, according to Andrew L. Bostwick, Statistician of the 
Liberty Central Fruit Company of St. Louis, who says: 

“ ‘Of the leading ten counties seven are in the Pacific States 
(California and Washington), one is in the Middle West, and two 
are in the East. Los Angeles County, California, with a total of 
nearly $72,000,000, comes first, and Fresno County, in the same 
state, is second. Fruit, of course, is largely responsible for the 
enormous agricultural values in these regions. 

“ ‘Third on the list comes Aroostook County, Maine, In 
value of crops alone this county ranks second in the United States, 
and by far the greatest part of the value represents potatoes. 
Lancaster County, Pa., the other Eastern County in the first ten, 
comes fifth; tobacco, in addition to hay and grain crops, is respon¬ 
sible for this high rank. Dane County, Wisconsin, is the highest 
Middle West county on the list, being tenth. Dairying is very 
important; in value of crops alone this county ranks not tenth, but 
twenty-fifth. 

“ ‘The richest Illinois County is McLean, the eleventh. The 
richest one-crop county and also the richest county in the cotton 
belt proper is Bolivar, Mississippi, in the famous ‘delta’ section. 


88 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


“ ‘It is interesting to note that of the fifty leaders scarcely more 
than a dozen belong to the cotton belt. If crops alone were con¬ 
sidered, without livestock products, the result would probably be 
more favorable to the South. 

“ ‘In a number of instances the dairy industry has raised indi¬ 
vidual counties to high standing in value of farm products. St. 
Lawrence County, New York, ranks 108th in value of crops alone, 
but in the crop and livestock products it stands fourteenth. The 
poultry and egg industry of Sonoma County, near San Francisco, 
is the cause of that county’s rank of eighth in the final list; in 
value of crops alone it stands forty-second.’ 

“On the whole, the statistics as given present a rather strong 
argument for a diversified agriculture, with attention to dairying 
and to such specialized crops as the land and climate may permit.” 

Cooperative Marketing 

Of all classes of people the farmer has been among the slowest 
to realfze the advantages of cooperation. He has certainly not 
kept pace with the laboring classes in this particular. But he is 
gradually coming to realize the truth of the dictum, “In union 
there is strength.” There are in these United States today 14,000 
organizations of farmers for the purpose of buying and selling. 

It sounds well to talk of diversified crops, but without cbopera- 
tion in the marketing of such crops, diversification is doomed to 
failure. We need organizations of farmers to market our cotton 
and food products. 

It is only by such organizations that the farmer will be able to 
get a fair price for his produce. The organization of the farmers 
of this country has been given a great impetus recently. It is to 
be hoped that this movement will take firm root in Kershaw 
County. 

Negro Majority 

To write a chapter on Kershaw County problems and not to 
mention the negro question would be a great mistake. There is 
no doubt but that the negro question is the greatest question that 
the people of our country and of the South have to face. Like a 
huge mountain it looms up on the horizon; casting a partial 
shadow over our other problems. 

There are a few facts relative to the negro problem which the 
people of Kershaw County may as well face. The negroes rep¬ 
resent 58 per cent of our population. Altho the negro majority 
has been steadily decreasing since 1870, nevertheless, it is prac- 


Kershaw County : Economic and Social 


89 


tically a certainty that for generations to come the colored peo¬ 
ple will compose a considerable proportion of our population. 

The problem is, how may these two people live side by side with 
a maximum amount of good will and happiness and a minimum of 
friction. We realize that either social or political equality be¬ 
tween the two races is not to be thought of. But the fact remains 
that these two races react on each other to a marked degree. 
The welfare of one race is dependent largely on the welfare of the 
other. It is impossible for the white race to make great advances 
without doing something to improve the condition of the negroes. 
The colored people as a whole fall far short of our standards of 
civilization. In morality, intelligence and health conditions they 
fail to measure up as a class to the whites. The result is that they 
are a retarding force in Southern life. The docket of our criminal 
courts show that in a large majority of criminal cases tried the 
prisoners are negroes. Being ignorant of rules of sanitation and 
hygiene, the negro race suffers greatly from disease. Lack of in¬ 
telligence and proper training prevents the negro farmer from get¬ 
ting the most out of his soil. Thereby the South is held back in 
agricultural development and its economic status is poorer than it 
might be. 

What, then, is to be done? We shall not be so foolish as to pro¬ 
pose a solution to the negro problem. Probably it never will be 
fully solved. But steps can be taken to improve conditions. The 
only sensible thing is for the white man to give the negroes a 
helping hand. They have done so in the past. They should con¬ 
tinue to do so in the future and do so on a larger scale. They 
will thereby help not only the negro but themselves as well. 

How can this help be administered? The crying needs of the 
negroes, taken as a class, are better morals, education and improved 
health conditions. The schools supply the best means of aid. 
The appropriations for school purposes should be increased. The 
present expenditure is insufficient. Steps should also be taken to 
teach them hygiene. The county nurse work should be continued 
and made more comprehensive. We should remember that the 
County of Kershaw can never attain a high degree of prosperity 
and civilization unless adequate means are taken to improve the 
condition of these people who represent 58 per cent of our pop¬ 
ulation. 











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